Sakura Kiss
by o.O Kumiko O.o
Summary: "There will be a time in your life where you will meet someone who will change your life forever." I always thought that quote was stupid until now. Main:SaiSakuSasu Side:SakuraXMany.Based off of Atashinchi no Danshi.
1. Meeting Minato Namikaze

**I was watching a new Japanese drama called "Atashinchi no Danshi" (The guys of my house) or something like that. It so inspired me to write a story similar to it. I hope you guys watch it and like this story. Don't worry I'll still be continuing Gomenasai (NaruSaku) and Love Story (DeiSaku). LOL notice how both guys have blond hair and blue eyes. Anyways, let's go into the story.**

**Love Love Love**

You know that saying _"There will be a time in your life where you will meet someone who will change your life forever"? _I always thought nothing of it...

A woman came into a café. People in the café looked at her weirdly for she had very, very messy black hair and wore big sun glasses. She had dirt all over her face and clothes. A homeless person had just walked inside the café.

"Sakura-san!" A boy with a bowl-cut hairstyle shouted.

"Hey Lee" I greeted.

My name is Sakura Haruno. I'm your average 17 year old girl…well I used to be until my stupid brother, Sasori, gambled his way to debt. And to make it worse, he put my name on the debt list!

"How have you been Sakura-san? Have you eaten anything? How's your health?" Lee asked me. He owned the café I was in and we went to elementary school together. In fact, most of my friends worked here in the café like Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuga, Tenten Kunai, and Temari Suna. I don't go to school with them anymore because of my life situation. My friends all go to a rich school, but we still hang out together.

"I'm fine Lee, I was just wondering if I could take a shower in the back" I asked him. Lee shined his bright teeth at me. I could swear I was going blind.

"Of course Sakura-san! Anything for you!" He said.

"Hey, you have to pay to take a shower in the back" A man as he grabbed my arm. I stared at him. I never saw him around here before. He had brown spiky hair and red triangle marks on his face. Tattoos? He had a puppy with him too.

"Kiba, stop, its okay, let her pass" Lee said. "Sorry about that Sakura-san, he's new"

I could feel Kiba's stare on me.

"Whatever" I said as I went to the back to take a shower.

Two men in black soon came into the café a couple minutes later and went up to Lee.

"Hey, have you seen this girl?" One of them asked. It was a picture of me with my long pink hair and green eyes. Lee's eyes widened in panic as he quickly began to shake his head.

"N-No, not at all!" Lee said.

Kiba looked at the picture and smiled. "She's pretty cute"

The two guys looked at each other in nodded. "Check around"

Lee really started to panic as he watched them go into the back. He soon ran up and screamed. "PLEASE MARRY ME!"

My eyes widened when I heard Lee shout. That was our little code to tell me if the loan shakers were here to get me. I quickly finished my shower and put on my clothes. I could hear the loan sharks open every stall and girls screaming. Thankfully the stalls were all connected. I immediately ran through them and ran out.

"I have to go Lee!" I yelled at him. The new guy, Kiba, just stared at me in shock.

I ran as fast as I could around Konoha. I looked back to see the guys still chasing after me.

"Give us back our money, Haruno!" One of them shouted. I flicked one of them off as I ran into a construction site of a building and immediately began to climb up. They were still after me. After a while, I soon ended up in a dead end. The only way out was to climb up the fence and jump many stories down.

"We got you now!" The loan sharks said. "We got you cornered. Give us back our 1,000,000 bucks!"

My mouth dropped. My brother was 1,000,000 dollars in debt! Oh, the next time I see him, I will kill him with my bare hands. I soon tried to climb up the fence as they tried to pull on my legs.

"Let me go!" I screamed.

"Give us our money!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I yelled. Before I knew it, a helicopter began to head my way. The loan sharks looked at the helicopter confused. It landed on top of the roof.

"What's going on here?" A man asked. He had blond spiky hair and nice blue eyes. He seemed to be in his 30's if not 40's.

"Hey, get out of here. This doesn't involve you!" One of the bad men said.

"Yeah, she's a very expensive thing" the other said. "So leave at once"

"She's not an object" The man said back to them.

"Yes she is! An incredible expensive thing that needs to pay us 1,000,000 dollars" One of the loan sharks said. The old man looked at me as I tried to hold my tears. I was embarrassed and scared at the same time.

"She's not to me" My savior said.

"Huh?" The loan sharks said.

"I'll pay you the $1,000,000" He said.

"Eh?!" We all said surprised.

"I'll pay her debt" He repeated as he signed a check and gave it to the loan sharks. "Send the receipt back here" The loan sharks soon left with the money they wanted.

"Why did you do that?" I asked the stranger.

"Come with me" He said as he led me to the roof and I let him. I mean, he just paid my brother's debt.

He helped me on the helicopter as we began to fly around Konoha. There was an awkward silence between me and the stranger.

"T-Thanks, for what happened back there" I said kind of embarrassed. "What do you want?"

"I'm Minato Namikaze" The man introduced himself.

"I want to know what your goal is, not who you are" I said. "What are you plotting?"

Minato just smiled at me as he took out a scroll. On the scroll it read:

**I will repay the 1 million yen some day**

**_______________**

"What?" I questioned.

"It's a written oath" Minato said as he handed me a pen.

I glared at the man who saved my life and took the pen from him. I soon wrote my name on the line under the statement.

"Do you have a coin?" He asked me. I nodded as I handed him one.

"This who you have been" He told me. I watched as he flipped the coin onto the back of his hand. "Your future will be shining brightly.

"Huh?" I said. Even though I'm a bright kid, I did not understand a word he said.

Minato lifted the oath paper as my green eyes widened. Under it was a marriage registration form.

"Beginning today…you will be Sakura Namikaze" He said.

"WHAT!" I screamed.

**XxXxXxX**

I still tried to get over my panic attack. I was only a 17, supposedly a girl almost finished with her junior year.

Why?!

Why couldn't I just be a normal girl with a normal life?

Why did my parents have to die when I was in middle school?

Why did my brother have to run away?

Why did I have to be homeless?

Why did he have to fall into debt?

Why do I have to marry a stranger?

Why couldn't I be happy with a happy life?

I started to cry.

"Don't worry; it's only for a month" He said trying to comfort me. "It's the least you can do before my time comes"

His last sentence got me. "Are you going to die or something?" I asked me.

He just smiled sadly at me. "That's what my fortune said". I rolled my eyes.

"You think you're going to die because of a fortune?" I asked not believing everything.

"Yes" He said. "You just have to be married to me for a month. I don't want to be alone when I die…"

My heart ached. I felt the same way as well.

"Don't you have any family?" I asked him.

He smiled. "I had a wife. She died while giving birth. I was told I lost my son due to a miscarriage"

Aw man….

"Fine. I'll be your wife for a month, but only for a month!" I said as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

He smiled at me. "Thank you very much, Sakura Haruno!"

A month…

It couldn't be that bad, right? After a month, he probably would live and we can go our separate ways. Since my brother's debt would be paid, I could go to high school and probably live with Ino.

Something in my gut told me things wouldn't be this simple after this month…

I just hope I was wrong….

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**How was it? Did you guys like it? At first, I was planning to put the third Hokage as the guy to save Sakura, but I couldn't see him in my story so I put the fourth Hokage instead. Oh and good news! SPOILER: Kakashi and everyone that died in the Akatsuki attack aren't dead! Thank you Nagato! I love you! Stupid Sasuke, don't do anything bad to Konoha, I'm begging you! Well, please review everyone. I won't update until I have more than 10 reviews. That isn't too much to ask is it? You don't even have to have an account to review. Please and thank you. **

**-Kumiko**


	2. Early Motherhood

Sigh, even though I wanted to wait to get 10 reviews on this first chapter, I really wanted to update this story. So I want to thank these five readers for reviewing:

**Cool44, SakuraRoxMySox, NinjaFoodLover, flamegirl5500, and harunosakua**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Atashinchi no Danshi.

Now let's go get on with the story Love Love Love.

**Love Love Love: Chapter 2**

"I have a feeling you want to talk to me about all of this" He said.

"Yes, I do" I responded. Minato took me to an ice cream shop. I ordered a mint chocolate chip as he ordered chocolate chip.

"If I didn't do it this way, you'd never have married me, right?" He said. I knew he was talking about tricking me into signing the marriage form.

"Of course not! Why would anyone marry someone they just met?"

"This is what they call 'fate', isn't it? When I watched you from the helicopter, running away…I got this funny feeling in my heart." Minato said with a smile.

"That's the reason you decided to marry me?" I asked.

"I won't ask you to love me. Just stay with me. That's all I want."

"If you wanted a companion, I could have done that without marrying you"

"I wanted a wife. I already told you what happened to mine. Besides, the way 'wife' sounds has a nice ring to it." Minato said as he laughed. "You'll get three meals a day, a roof over your head, and a nice bed. I don't think the benefits are that bad."

"Why go so far for me?" I asked.

"There's something about you. Something special" He said. "Besides, if you don't marry me, you have to pay up the $1,000,000 that you owe me now"

"A month right?" I looked at him. "It's the least I can do…"

He soon put his arm around my shoulder and smiled. "Starting today, we're family" He said.

**XxXxXxX**

"My Sakura-san is married?!" Lee shouted in his rich-looking restaurant "Youthful Café".

Everyone was looking at my wedding picture with Minato.

"How come I wasn't invited?" Ino and the other people working there responded in shock.

"I wanted a very small wedding" I answered.

The people that worked here were like family to me and always looked after me since my parents died and my brother ran away and left me with that debt he had. I began to tell everyone the story behind me getting married.

"I can't believe he paid off all the debt just for you" Tenten said.

"I can't believe he thinks he's going to die because of this fortune he received" Temari said as she was sweeping the floor.

"I still don't know why you guys work here even though you all come from rich families" I said as I rested my head on the cool granite counter.

"It helps us rich kids not seem like spoiled brats" Kankuro said with a grin.

"A-And the important reason we work is so we can help you financially." Hinata said.

"All the money we earn goes to this jar" Gaara said as he walked to the end of the café. There were large curtains as Gaara pulled on the ropes. Opening the curtains, it revealed a 10 ft jar with money in it. The sign hanging above it said:

**Help Sakura Haurno live a happy life**

**(Insert Picture of Sakura)**

**Donate to help **_**(Or else I'll kill you)**_

Reading the sign, I knew the 'kill you' part was from Gaara. He always seemed to have a soft spot for me.

"Thank you everyone" I said, feeling my nose sting. Tears were forming in my eyes.

"No need to thank us. You were there for us for all those years and never asked for anything to return. You're the best friend a person can ask for!" Ino said.

That did it. Tears began to roll down my cheeks. "I love you guys!" I cried as I fell on my knees and rested my hands on my lap. Gaara immediately went up to me and hugged me tight with an emotionless face. After him, people began to hug me too.

"We love you too Sakura!" The whole café said.

It was nice having a lot of friends. But I still wasn't happy. I knew what I wanted. I wanted to know what it is like to have a family…a real one.

An hour later, the Café was close to customers but everyone was still here chatting.

"When are you going to start living with that guy?" Temari asked as she was hugging her chair.

"Tomorrow" I responded. The more I realized how close tomorrow would come, the more I got scared.

Lee probably sensed how I was feeling because he soon got up. "I'll go with you tomorrow Sakura-san and check out the place with you"

"I'll come too" Kiba said with a smile. "I want to make sure you're safe and out of danger" Lee knew what Kiba was up to.

"You think you're going to try to score points with my Sakura-san?" Lee asked.

"Seems like you're trying to keep her to yourself" Kiba said with a challenging smile.

Gaara soon came up to me. "I'll pick you put in the morning to take you to your new place"

"Thank you Gaara" I said as I hugged him. Gaara stuck out a victory sign towards Lee and Kiba who went to a corner to grow mushrooms.

"Who's the guy that you're marrying to? You never told us" Tenten said.

"His name is Minato Namikaze" I said.

"Namikaze. That last name sounded familiar" Ino said.

"That's because he was that famous Principal of Konoha High" Temari said. "I was three years old at the time. My dad was the Principal over at Suna High. During his years as Principal, Namikaze just vanished from public. People were going crazy when they found out he disappeared out of nowhere. No one could find him. People considered him dead. But what bugs me is why he would show up to you out of the blue."

Sigh. This was all confusing. My new husband happens to be the missing Principal of Konoha High, the rich famous school I got into by passing their supposedly hard entrance exam with a perfect score.

"Enough about me" I said. "How about you guys? Is there anything new with you?"

"My cousin is still hasn't come home…" Hinata said sadly.

I remembered her cousin a bit. I met him at once when I went to her birthday party when we were in elementary. He was best friends with Tenten and Lee. I forgot what he looked like.

"It's been years. Ever since my uncle died in place of my father, Neji always hated us. Then one day, he ran away from home." Hinata said.

"He never answers to my phone calls…" Tenten said with a sigh as she looked at her phone. "Hopefully, I see him at college."

"Don't worry, everyone is doing the best to find him" Chouji said. "He's most likely hiding at a friend's house or something where there's a lot of food!"

I sighed. I should probably leave now so I can get a good night's rest. I said goodbye to all my friends as I walked back to the park, where I stayed. I didn't want to burden any of my friends, so I didn't stay with them. I don't think their parents would like adopting a homeless person as well. Gaara said he'd meet me at the park around 10 in the morning tomorrow. I thanked him and walked out of the café.

**XxXxXxX**

"We're here" Gaara said as I lifted my head from his right shoulder. I was tired as hell. I was barely able to go to sleep last night with all the thinking I did. Gaara's chauffeur opened the door for us. Gaara got out of the car first as he helped me out. He was such a gentleman. He was really my closest guy friend.

When I looked at the house, I was glad to see it wasn't like a mansion or something. For someone who was able to pay off Sasori's debt, he must have been rich…very very rich. It was a normal looking house.

The door of the house opened as a blond blur ran out and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Sakura-chan!" Minato greeted me. I felt a chilling glare behind me. I turned around to see Gaara glaring daggers at Minato.

"H-Hello" I said as I bowed.

"Come in. Come in!" He said as he pushed me inside. Gaara silently followed.

When we went inside, I was amazed at how beautiful it was. The living room had a neutral vibe to it. Nothing seemed to be off about it.

"Where's Sakura's room?" Gaara asked for me. Minato blinked his eyes for a bit before he grinned.

"Let me show you" Minato said as he led me by the waist.

Minato opened the large doors to this bedroom. There was a king size bed in the middle. The walls of the room were a nice beige color with wooden floors. The room had a small bathroom and a walk in closet. I fell in love with the room instantly. I began to jump on the bed. I was surprised by how soft the bed was.

Gaara looked at Minato. "Hey, what are you planning?"

"What are you talking about?" Minato asked as he watched me jump on the bed.

"Why would you go out of your way to help someone like Sakura? What are you after?" Gaara asked. I stopped jumping on the bed as I heard the accusation in his voice. Minato had his back to me, so I couldn't see his face, but Gaara did. Minato smirked.

"Nothing at all. I just wanted to help someone before I died" Minato said as he turned around. I was already beginning to walk up to the boys. "Besides, how could I not help someone as cute as Sakura-chan?" Minato grabbed me into another hug.

"Stop hugging her every chance you get" Gaara said hitting Minato on the head.

Minato sighed. "If you're worried about Sakura-chan, you have nothing to fear. I'll take care of her as if she was my own daughter."

"Then adopt her instead of marrying her. People don't like being forced to stay with someone they don't like or know!" Gaara said as he looked Minato. He was quiet after that. I looked up to see Minato had a sad look on his face as it seemed he was thinking about something in the past.

I glared at Gaara as I grabbed Minato's hand. "I promised you, that I'd stay with you for a month. I want to stay with you"

Minato smiled as he ruffled my hair. "Thank you Sakura-chan" I wanted to cry. That was the saddest smile I have ever seen. "Let me show you the rest of the house"

I looked over at Gaara as he sighed. "I'm sorry about what I said…"

Minato grinned. "It's okay. You're just jealous about me and Sakura-chan. Kids are so cute nowadays"

I've never seen Gaara's face so red before. "I'm not jealous!"

"Its okay, I won't tell her" Minato said.

After Minato showed me the rest of the house, we went outside to see his backyard. There was a large bathhouse outside with a pool on the other side. There was a swing. There was a large basketball court as well. There seemed to be a little dojo as well. Minato was into martial arts? I could see the maids and butlers cleaning around the house.

After the tour was done, we had lunch at the house.

"This house is beautiful" I said with a grin.

"Thank you Sakura-chan. I'm glad I have you as a wife before I die"

I rolled my eyes. "You're not going to die Minato-san"

Minato just smiled once again. He smiled way too much.

"What's with all the rooms here? It's too much for just one person" Gaara said.

"I have other people staying here. They're all on vacation right now. All of them should be around your age Sakura-chan. They're all going to be seniors next year, just like you. One of them is going to be a freshman in college. They all needed a place to stay so I had them live with me."

"That's very nice of you" I said.

"Well, I better go. I have work." Gaara said as he stood up.

"I'll walk you out." I offered as I walked him to the front door. He gave me a long hug.

"You better watch yourself around him. He may seem all nice and friendly but I feel like he's hiding something…planning something." Gaara warned me.

"It's okay Gaara. I'm only going to be here for a month. After that, Minato and I can go back to our own lives. He'll live and I'll go back to my own lifestyle."

"I guess. Just be careful…for me okay?" Gaara said. I closed my eyes.

"Alright" I said. He gave me a small smile then left.

I soon went back to Minato to see him waiting for me.

"Again, thank you for staying with me Sakura-chan" Minato said.

"It's the least I could do. I mean you did pay my brother's debt" I said with a smile.

A month couldn't be that bad. It would all go by fast, and they would both move on.

**A MONTH LATER:**

I finally finished all the papers for my late husband, Minato Namikaze. The doctors said he died in his sleep. When the month was slowly coming to an end, I started to realize how quiet and weak he was getting. The doctors had no reason for his death, except that it just happened. His heart just stopped beating. I still couldn't get over the fact that he died. I began to cry. He was the only person that really tried to protect me from the darkness of the world.

"Mrs. Namikaze…or should I say Ms. Haruno" A voice said. I looked up to see a woman with short black hair. She wore a business like outfit. Behind her was a man with silver hair. He wore an eye patch on his left eye. To make him more mysterious, he had a mask on too. I felt something breathing near my ankles. When I looked down, I saw a pig staring at me.

"Ton Ton! I told you to stay in the car!" The lady said. She then cleared her throat. "Hello. I'm Shizune. I'm the family lawyer. I'm really sorry for your loss."

"Thank you" I said tired.

"I'm Kakashi Hatake. I'm a close friend of Minato-sensei. I used to be a student of his before he became a principal at Konoha High. The day you agreed upon with Minato has come"

"Yes. Today is exactly a month from then" I responded.

"Because of you, Minato-sensei was able to live out his days peacefully. Thank you so much" Kakashi said with a bow.

"It was nothing" I said. I soon pulled out a cell phone from my pocket. "I have to give back the cell phone I borrowed."

"Before that, we must speak about the future" Kakashi said as he walked over to Shizune who was preparing something on the dining table.

"Eh? Future?" I asked.

"Do you remember this signature?" Shizune asked me as she laid out a scroll. I walked over to look at it.

"Oh yeah, there was a marriage registration form attached to this…" I said. I watched as Shizune moved the scroll to reveal more to it. "If all the conditions to the left are met, the 1 million dollar debt will be considered paid." Shizune rolled the scroll more to the left. "Be Minato Namikaze's wife for a month" Shizune moved the scroll more as she smiled at me. "Get into Konoha High. Until your senior graduation, live in this house and be a mother to my sons" My voice turned from reading to yelling. I looked up at Shizune and Kakashi. Kakashi was reading this orange book and giggling. Shizune looked at me with a serious face.

"Starting today, you will need to live here as a mother to his six sons" Shizune said.

"Sons?! He told me he lost his wife and son due to a miscarriage!" I shouted.

"Or so he had been told" Kakashi said as he closed his book. "He probably told you he had other people living in this house, am I correct?"

I nodded. "Well, they're actually his sons…his adopted sons to be exact"

"What! That's impossible! I'm only supposed to be his wife for a month!"

"And you've completed the contract to be his wife" Shizune said.

"But starting today, you are to be Mama…" Kakashi said as he laughed like he made the most funniest joke in the world.

"I never agreed to that!" I said as I put my hands to my hips. Shizune sighed as she rolled the scroll more to the left. "There's more?!"

"If this part of the contract is not fulfilled, you are obligated to pay back the $1,000,000 immediately" Kakashi read for me. "If you're going to refuse, then please pay us the money now"

"Shizune, isn't this fraud? It would be difficult to substantiate that in court" I asked.

"While it's true that all his sons have their own eccentricities…they're all quiet handsome" Shizune said.

"That's not the problem!" I said.

"The money has to be paid in cash." Kakashi said.

"I'm sorry, but that's on the contract" Shizune said.

I glared at both of them before I sighed. "Fine! Just until I graduate, right?"

Kakashi smiled. I couldn't tell due to his mask, but i saw his eyes crinkle on the sides. "Follow me please"

Kakashi took me outside to the bathhouse as he led me to a room. When I entered, I screamed. There in front of me were 6 handsome men with only a towel covering their lower parts. The guys screamed in shock as well.

"Why are they naked?!" I asked Kakashi when I turned around and covered my eyes. I could feel my face heat up.

"These are Minato-sensei's sons." Kakashi said. I turned around and looked at each other the sons slowly.

"We're not his sons anymore" A man with raven hair said. His hair resembled that of a chicken's butt. He was really handsome, but looked arrogant.

"Hey!" I said. "Don't talk about him like that!"

He stood up and walked up to me as he got out of the bath. "You're short, pinky. What are you going to do about it?"

"How troublesome. I can't consider these guys as brothers" This guy reminded me of a pineapple.

"Who's the ugly bitch?" Another guy asked Kakashi. He had really pale skin. He looked like the guy with the chicken butt for hair.

"Ugly…bitch?" I repeated as I clenched my hands trying to control my anger. I soon lost it as I punched the concrete wall with my bare fist. I watched with glee as the boys jumped at the sound. I pulled my hand away as pieces of the concrete fell to the ground. "You're lucky I can't hit you…"

"Who is she Kakashi?" This guy had very long brown hair. Looking closely at him, I realized that he resembled Hinata, especially with the eyes. That's when it clicked.

"Neji Hyuga!" I said surprised as I hugged him.

"What the hell?" He said in response. He soon pushed me away arms length as he took a good look at me. His eyes widened as he looked at me. "I've seen you somewhere before…"

"I'm your cousin's best friend. Sakura Haruno" I said with a smile. When I mentioned his cousin, he gave me a dark look.

"Leave me alone" Neji said. I frowned. What an ass.

"Hello! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet you" Someone said as he hugged me from behind. I soon saw a guy with blond spiky hair. He looked so much like Minato. But wasn't he supposed to be his adopted son. At least there was someone i was going to be able to talk to nicely.

"Please refrain from hugging me when you're wet and half naked" I said as i got embarrassed.

Naruto laughed. "Sorry about that"

"It's okay" I said. I visually began to count the guys here with my finger. I soon looked at Kakashi. "I only counted five. Where's the last one?"

"Am I that unnoticeable?" A voice said. I turned around to see a man with dark shades. He was really mysterious. He was in the bath with only his head showing.

"Sorry, didn't see you there" I said as I sweat dropped. What have I gotten myself into?

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Everyone, this is Sakura Haruno. Sakura will be living here with you guys as your mother starting today." Everyone's eyes widened.

"What?" the guy who called me ugly shouted.

"Since when?" Neji said.

"Who decided that?" the guy with his hair up asked.

"I will not acknowledge her as my mother" The guy with the chicken butt hair said as he didn't look at me anymore.

"Who's the guy with the chicken's ass for hair?" I asked. The guy glared at me as other chuckled.

"You're annoying" He said. I glared at him as I walked away. Kakashi came after me.

"You just have to endure it for a whole school semester." Kakashi said trying to calm me down.

"No way! That's impossible! I'd never be able to survive in that zoo!"

"You must" Shizune said as she walked into the room. "Here, read this" Shizune handed me a scroll as I began to read what it said.

"20 mother goals. You will be staying here for a whole school year. In that time period, you must complete all 20 mother goals." I finished reading. I soon read the first goal. "Get all six sons to recognize you as their mother" My eyes turned into saucers.

"If you cannot get them to recognize you as their mother, then the contract is invalid and you must pay back the money you owe." Shizune said as she rolled the scroll for to the left.

"This is ridiculous!" I shouted.

"Good luck to you" Shizune said as she walked away.

"Hey wait!" I called out but she was long gone.

**XxXxXxX**

Back in the bathhouse, the sons were talking about what happened.

"What are we going to do about that woman?" Sai asked.

"She must have some sort of ulterior motive" Shino said.

"She's probably trying to get her hands on the inheritance herself" Sai said. "Minato was really rich you know. It just seems weird that he died a month after being married."

"Maybe she just wants to stay here like us. Maybe Minato took her in like he did with us" Naruto said.

"Then why did Kakashi announce her as our mother?" Shino asked.

"She doesn't need to live here" Sasuke said.

"Maybe she's planning to throw us out and keep everything to herself. She's now the mistress of the house" Neji said.

"Why are you guys getting so worked up about her?" Shikamaru asked.

"You want her to live here?" Sasuke asked.

"Shut up Teme. Why are you guys being so mean to her?" Naruto said.

"I don't want her living here" Shikamaru said. "It would be too troublesome. So why don't we give her our special brand of affection"

"Our special brand of affection, meaning we have to work together?" Sai asked.

"I know we all don't like each other here so why don't we just leave her alone" Naruto said trying to go against the whole plan.

"No one likes you the most" Sasuke said. Naruto glared at him and gave him the finger. Sasuke smirked.

"We just have to put our differences aside long enough to make her not want to come back here" Shikamaru said.

"Good idea Shikamaru!" Shino said.

"That's why he's the smartest guy in Konoha High" Neji said.

After a few minutes, Kakashi and I came back into the room.

"Sakura let me introduce you to Minato's six sons since I already introduced you. That guy right there is Sasuke Uchiha. You already know Neji somehow. The really pale one is Sai. The guy with his hair up is Shikamaru Nara. Naruto already introduced himself. The last one is Shino Aburame." Kakashi said.

"Hi" I said flatly. They were already pissing me off. I could feel everyone's stare at me. It was so awkward.

"How old are you anyways? You seem too young to be a wife" Shikamaru asked me.

"I'm the same age as you. I'm 17" I said with a forced smile. "I hope you guys will treat me nicely here and let me take care of all of you"

"Hn…" Sasuke said. "The day I consider you as my mom or someone I like, it will be the day that man ends up being a good brother." He soon walked off giving me a glare. Shino silently left the bathhouse as well, leaving me with Naruto, Shikamaru, Sai, and Neji. Kakashi had suddenly disappeared.

"Pinky! Play a game of basketball with us. If you lose, you leave" Neji said. The pinky nickname was already going around.

"What? That's stupid" I said.

"If you don't, we won't ever recognize you as our mother" Sai said.

"Fine. I don't care. I'm not even your real mom and we're the same age" I said back. I soon remembered what the Shizune said.

**If you cannot get them to recognize you as their mother, then the contract is invalid and you must pay back the money you owe.**

"Fine…I'll play basketball with you. But it's kind of unfair, four against one?" I said as I put my hands on my hips.

"I'll sit out then. It's too troublesome to play" Shikamaru said.

"Okay" Neji said. "Whoever gets 2 points first wins"

"Fine then!" I said as Sai threw the basketball at me. Little did they know that I was actually really good at basketball and have beaten more guys alone. I could see Naruto raise an eyebrow when he saw my smirk. I began to dribble the ball as I zoomed across the court while dodging Naruto's and Sai's attempts at stealing the ball. Neji was guarding the hoop. His legs were spread apart. He left me an opening. I grabbed the ball as I slid under him and quickly got up. I crouched down as I jumped with all my might and made a slam dunk. I tried to hold my laughter as the boys were in complete shock.

"One point for me" I said. Naruto smiled.

"So, you're actually really good at basketball." Naruto said.

"I practiced a lot at the park next to my house" I answered. That wasn't a lie. Being homeless gives you a lot of free time. A lot of guys came to the park to play basketball and I join them.

"Good, which means we won't go easy on you" Naruto said with a challenging smirk.

"So you were really going easy on me earlier?" I asked.

"Yeah. Just wanted to test out your ability" Naruto answered. I started to laugh.

"If you say so" I said as I smiled at him. I saw Naruto blush a bit but I didn't say anything. I bounced the ball over to Neji as he was mad that I got through him. He began to dribble the ball as he moved across the court. I tried to get him, but Sai and Naruto made it impossible for me. Neji scored a point as he smirked. Oh was he going to be surprised with my next move.

Neji passed me the ball as I began to dribble. "So this is it. One more point for both of us" I said to Neji.

He smirked. "Give it your best shot, pinky"

I glared at him as I went passed him. I made a quick stop as I got myself ready and released the ball. The boys weren't able to grab it. The ball hit the rim as it began to move around it. It soon fell into the basket.

"I win!" I said happily as I jumped in the air. I soon began to walk away.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Shikamaru said.

"What? The match is over" I said.

"No it isn't!" Sai said. "There are other brothers, you know"

"Eh?" I felt Sai push me inside the house and in front of a room.

"This is Sasuke's room" Neji said. "Sasuke never lets anyone in. You have to get into his room in 10 minutes"

"How hard can it be" I stated as I began to knock on the door.

"Sasuke-kun, can you open the door?" I asked in a sweet voice. I got no answer. "I'd really like to talk to you and get to know you better"

"Leave me alone" Sasuke said from the other side. "You're annoying"

"If you don't open this door, I'll break the door open" I said in a motherly tone. Sasuke didn't' say anything.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, hag" Sai said. I got myself ready as I kicked the door and I immediately got shocked.

"What the hell?" I said surprised. Did the door just shock me?

"I told you" Sai said as Naruto snickered.

"There's another way" Shikamaru said as he pointed to the door across from Sasuke's. "Enter that way and just follow where it takes you"

I opened the door Shikamaru told me as a large bucket of water fell on me. I was soaking wet. Before I knew it, a large bag of flour opened and fell on me. I screamed as I walked outside. Shikamaru and the guys were laughing at me. Sasuke had opened his door to see what was going on. He raised an eye brow as he smirked.

"Y-You guys did this on purpose" I said. I could feel myself trembling. My nose was stinging as I was trying to hold in my tears.

"You don't understand…do you?" Shikamaru said as he crossed his arms. "You're not wanted here"

"We don't need a family!" Neji said.

"Or someone trying to be a mom to all of us" Sai said next.

"I don't know what you're planning, but you're annoying and an eyesore" Sasuke said as he walked out of his room and walked up to me. He was a head taller than me. "So pack all your bags right now and get the hell out of here. No one wants you. Get that through your big forehead" He said as he flicked my forehead with his thumb and middle finger. Naruto was just silent. His eyes widened when he saw the tears about to roll down my cheeks. He felt ashamed to do this to a girl.

I couldn't take it anymore as the tears were falling down my face.

"You can't force me out because I'm leaving!" I snapped back

Sasuke smirked. "And your exit is that way, pinky" He pointed to the front door. I looked up at each of the boys and saw their expressions. Sasuke was smirking. Sai was just giving me a fake smile. Neji glared at me. Shikamaru just stared at me. But Naruto's expression surprised me. He seemed sad that he made me cry and that I was leaving, but I didn't care. My heart couldn't take it here anymore.

"I just wanted to be friends with you guys and be a family! But I guess you guys are all cold-hearted to know what being in a family is all about!" I shouted

"Sak-"I heard Naruto begin to say but I ran away from the house and from this horrible people.

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Okay, so even though I didn't get the 10 reviews on the first chapter, I really wanted to update. So how did you guys like this chapter. At first, I was going to make Naruto in Shikamaru's place. But it didn't seem like a Naruto thing to do. He would most likely be-friend Sakura in the first place. So Gaara was right. Minato was planning something from the start. Please review everyone, it makes me happy.

-Kumiko


	3. Getting To Know Your Sons

I Had to re-edit some parts in the story. So I had to reupload the last two chapters.

**Hey everyone. I'm going to take a poll on who should get with Sakura in the end of the story. I already have someone in mind, but I just want to know what the readers think. As the story goes on, please tell me who you want Sakura to end up with. I'll be adding more guys to the list as well. So wait and see if you don't like anyone on the list. Please and thank you. I'll be announcing when I stop the voting.**

**These are our contestants so far:**

**Sasuke**

**Naruto**

**Sai**

**Neji**

**Shikamaru**

**Shino**

**Gaara**

**Kiba**

**Lee**

**Love Love Love chapter 3**

**The next day…**

"SONS?!" Ino and Lee screeched.

"6 of them, adopted" I said. "And they're all bastards!" I said.

"I knew he was planning something!" Gaara said as he frowned.

"Wow. Only seventeen and you already had a husband and 6 kids" Tenten said as she whistled.

"You have to do 20 mother goals in order for the debt to be considered paid?" Temari said.

"Yeah, it doesn't matter. I quit. I'll find my own way to pay the 1,000,000 on my own" I stated as I pounded my fist on the table. "I just have to talk to Kakashi and Shizune"

There was a long silence in the room.

"Did you say Kakashi and Shizune?" Chouji asked as he stopped eating his chips.

"Yeah" I said.

"Kakashi as in Hatake Kakashi?" Chouji asked again.

"Yes, what about him?" I asked.

"He's a teacher at Konoha High. He teaches English there" Gaara answered.

"Yeah, and Shizune is the nurse at the school as well" Hinata said.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" I said as I hugged Hinata. "I found Neji"

"W-What?! Y-You did?" Hinata was almost in tears.

"Yeah, he's one of my sons now" I stated.

"Huh?" Everyone said.

"Minato adopted 6 guys as sons. Five of them are my age and the other one is Neji."

"He's safe?" Tenten asked. She put a hand over her heart. "Thank goodness"

"Who are the other five?" Kankuro asked.

"Hm, let's see…" I began to say. "There's this asshole that seems to have something up his ass all the time. Sasuke Uchiha was his name I think"

"Sasuke Uchiha!" Ino shouted.

"You know him?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I know him." Ino said as she put her hands near her mouth. She seemed to have gone to fan-girl mode. "I know everyone there is at Konoha High. No information gets pass me. Call me a gossip queen if you must. Sasuke Uchiha is the President of the school council and captain of the basketball team! He's filthy rich you know. All the brothers are since they were adopted by Minato Namikaze, one of the richest people in Japan. Surprisingly, he never had a girlfriend in his life. But he has a massive fan club. Their leader is Karin Takeshima. Co-leader is her best friend, Ami Hamasaki. They're both a total bitch. His parents were murdered when he was really young. He has an older hot brother named Itachi but vanished out of Sasuke's life a few days after the incident. People say it was his brother who killed his parents."

"Who are the others?" Tenten asked. You could tell she was happy that Neji was okay.

"Shikamaru Nara" I said next.

"He's one of my close guy friends!" Chouji said. "His parents got into a car accident and died. My parents offered to let him stay with us, but he ran away. I still see him at school, but he never told me where he stayed. He has an IQ of 200, or so they say. He's also in the student council as one of the two Vice Presidents. He used to play shougi too, but he got bored with with it because no one could beat him. I think if someone was able to beat him, he'd go back to the way he used to be. He's going to be the strategist of Japan's military. He's someone you should never mess with."

"Even though he's really smart, he's a lazy ass" Ino added as she blushed as bit. "So who's the next son?"

"I see" I said. "Well there's Sai Sakamoto." **(I realized that I didn't give Sai a last name in the last chapter. Sorry about that)**."

"He's also in the student council as the second Vice President. He's one of the best artists in our school. He quit the Art club though for some odd reason. One day, he told the whole school he wasn't going to draw or paint ever again. He's in the basketball team as well. He had a girlfriend once but they broke up two years ago. He was an orphan too. Some people say that him and Sasuke look alike." Tenten stated.

Oh was as all I could say. The guys seemed to have sad lives but that didn't give them a reason to act like assholes and treat me the way they did. I still won't go back there.

"Who else lives at that house?' Lee asked. I noticed that he was writing the guys' names down. I sweat dropped. Lee worries about me too much.

"There's Shino Aburame" I said.

"Shino's the student council's treasurer. He's in the volleyball team as captain with me" Kiba said with a grin. "We're best friends. He's also in the nature club because he likes insects. He's actually the most normal one in the group so there's nothing much to gossip about."

"Okay Sakura-san, who's the last guy" Lee asked me. Curiosity got the best of me as I walked up behind Lee and took a peek over his shoulders. In big letters it said:

**TOP SIX BOYS TO WATCH OUT TO PROTECT SAKURA-SAN'S YOUTH**

**Sasuke Uchiha **

**Sai Sakamoto**

**Neji Hyuga**

**Shikamaru Nara**

**Shino Aburame**

I sweat dropped. "Um, the last guy is Naruto Uzumaki"

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said. She blushed at the name.

"That guy is the secretary of the student council. Rumor has it that he's somehow related to Minato Namikaze. When he first came into the school, he was a troublemaker and rude to everyone. He acted like Sasuke to an extent. Then one day, he just became all happy go lucky. He just came to school greeting everyone and hugging everyone. It shocked everyone at school. The teachers even cried. He's the friendliest person in the student council, but sadly he's the densest one" Kiba said.

"That's mean to say" I said.

"What? It's true" Kiba grinned at me as he shrugged. "Anyways, he's also in the basketball team. Oh yeah, he's also best friends with Sasuke Uchiha"

My mouth dropped when I heard that. Sasuke and Naruto best friends? I soon heard someone walk into the café as he put his arms around me into a hug.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto called out as he hugged me. "I missed you, mom" he said as a joke.

"N-N-N-Naruto-kun" Hinata began to say.

"Eh? Hinata-chan!" Naruto said as he went to hugged her. Hinata turned red as she fainted in his arms. Tenten took Hinata from Naruto's arms as she put her own a couch to calm down.

"Guess that hug was too much for her to handle" Tenten laughed.

"We need to talk Sakura-chan" Naruto said with a smile.

"There's nothing to talk about with assholes like you" I snapped.

"Ooh, she talked back to someone like with such authority at school" Lee said. "Sakura-san is so cool"

"I didn't plan the prank. Shikamaru did." Naruto said. Ino and Chouji seemed to look up at Naruto when he mentioned Shikamaru's name.

"But you didn't do anything to stop it either even though you knew" I said. "So you're at fault as well" Naruto's eyes widened as he realized why I was mad.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan. You have to come back to the house. The guys act like that because they don't trust anyone anymore, well most of them do. Knowing Ino, she probably blabbed everything about us" Naruto said. I laughed. How can you stay mad at someone like Naruto? He's too loveable.

"Fine, we'll talk, but not here" I said. Naruto smiled as he said he'd treat me out for lunch. I told him I wasn't hungry but my stomach spoke otherwise. I blushed as Naruto laughed. He took me to his favorite ramen place.

"They have the best ramen here in the whole world" Naruto said. He reminded me of a kid.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked Naruto. I could tell he was stalling.

"I'm sorry about what the others guys did to you yesterday. But you shouldn't blame them. Like I said before, they can't trust anyone. They hate each other." Naruto said.

"That's what confuses me" I said. "Why would a group of guys, that hate each other, all be in the Student Council together?"

Naruto gave a sad smile. "It wasn't like that before. Believe it or not, we all use to get along like real brothers. But Minato didn't adopt us at the time. We all knew each other since we were little. Then all of a sudden things happened with all of us and we turned out this way. Please, give the gang one last chance. If you give up on them, they won't be able to believe in anyone anymore. They want to trust you, but they're just scared to. Besides, Minato chose you as his wife for a reason, right?"

Minato chose you as his wife for a reason, right? Those words struck me as I thought about it. Naruto may be on to something. Minato probably had high hopes for me.

"Fine, I'll come back and try again. But you have to do something for me" I said.

"And what's that?" Naruto asked.

"You have to tell me what Sasuke's favorite food is" I said with a smile.

"He likes tomatoes" A voice said. Naruto and I jumped as we saw a guy who looked exactly like Sasuke but older sitting next to us.

"I-Itachi?" Naruto said.

"Itachi, who are you talking to-"The person next to him looked at me in shocked. Next to Itachi was my stupid brother.

"Aw shit" Sasori said as he quickly got up.

"SASORI!" I screamed as he pulled Itachi by the arm and tried to make a run for it. I followed right after as Naruto followed me.

"You bastard! Come back here!" I shouted.

"So you're still mad about the 1,000,000 debt huh?" Sasori said as he laughed nervously. I screamed as I tackled him to the ground. Naruto and Itachi watched in shock as I punched my brother in the face.

"What the hell is wrong with you? What kind of brother are you? I hate you! I hate you!" I cried as I kept hitting him on the face and chest.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I didn't mean to. I was drunk when I wrote your name" Sasori said.

"Cut the bullshit. Because of you, loan sharks came after me. Then you left me alone to fend for myself. We lost our home and had no money! How could an older brother like you leave your little sister when our parents are no longer here?" I shouted. "Because of you, I can't even go to school with my friends…I couldn't even go to school at all! I'm a homeless person living at the Konoha Park! I have no family. The only real family I had was Minato Namikaze, but he's gone! I'm alone!"

Sasori was silent as he thought about what I said. Itachi sighed as Naruto's eyes widened. He didn't know that part about me. Sasori soon hugged me tight as I kept on crying. After I stopped he took a few steps back and smiled at me.

"I'm sorry…" He said. He really did sound like he was sincere. "So did you pay the debt back?" He asked me. My mouth dropped. That cold-hearted monster!

"I hate you!" I shouted as I kicked Sasori where the sun doesn't shine. Naruto had to hold me back.

"Sakura-chan, calm down" Naruto said. "Itachi, take Sasori away"

"Thanks Uzumaki. Say hello to Sasuke for me" Itachi said as he picked up my brother's unconscious body and left.

Naruto took me to a bench where I cooled down.

"That was your brother?" Naruto asked me.

"That bastard is no brother of mine" I said with a frown.

"Is that all true? That you're actually poor and a live at Konoha Park?" Naruto asked me a different question.

"Yeah. Are all the brothers at home still?" I began to change the subject.

"Yeah, why?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head to the side.

"I'm going to get your brothers to acknowledge me as their mother!" I said.

"Well you have one son down. I'll acknowledge you as one. I don't know what it's like to have a mother or a sister. So to make you feel better, I'll think of you as one." Naruto said as he grinned at me.

I smiled. Aww. Naruto was so sweet. I knew for a fact I'd get along with him the most.

"Alright, let's go home" I said. Naruto's eyes widened as I linked arms with him.

**XxXxXxX**

"Do you think you guys were harsh on her?" Shino asked. All the brothers were in the living room as there was a depressing aura around them.

"Why are you guys acting like this?" Sai asked. "Shouldn't we all be happy that we kicked that girl out of the house?"

"Hn…" Sasuke and Neji said.

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru said. "I don't know why I feel so bad"

"It was probably because of what she said" Shino suggested.

_"I just wanted to be friends with you guys and be a family! But I guess you guys are all cold-hearted to know what being in a family is all about!"_

"Nah…" All the brothers said together as they shook their head.

"Where'd the dobe go?" Sasuke asked changing the subject.

"Probably out buying ramen" Sai said.

"Whatever. I'm going to my room" Sasuke said as he walked away. You could hear him close his door. After a couple minutes, the brothers heard the front door being destroyed.

"SHANARRO!" I shouted. I had a fighting headband over my forehead and a bag.

"Sakura-san?!" The brothers said shocked to see me back. Naruto walked behind me with a smirk.

"Troublesome woman. I thought we kicked you out" Shikamaru said.

"You didn't kick me out. I left, remember." I said.

"Why did you bring her back here?" Sai asked as he looked at Naruto.

"She wanted to come back" Naruto said with a smile. "She wants to be your mother"

"Give me one last try. I will get Sasuke-kun out of his room." I said. Neji seemed to act like the older brother. "Please Neji-kun"

Neji smirked. "Good luck with that"

Ooh, how I'd love to wipe that smirk off his arrogant face.

The guys watched as I walked up to Sasuke's room determined and dropped the bag I was holding. It made a large bang as it fell to the floor.

"Sasuke-kun, open the door please" I pleaded as I knocked on the door.

"You're back?" Sasuke asked. You could hear the surprise in his voice.

"Yes, I'm back. Just make this easy and save your pride by just opening the door or else I'll be stepping all over your pride in a matter of minutes" I threatened.

I could hear chuckling on the other side of the door.

"I'd like to see you try pinky" Sasuke said.

I smirked. "Say goodbye to your pride. Naruto, time me"

Naruto nodded and took out a stopwatch. "Go!"

I went to my bag and opened it. As I did, I noticed Naruto and the brothers sitting down and watched all my actions. I pulled out a jackhammer. The boys' mouths dropped. I plugged it in as I put on my safely goggles and ear plugs.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he heard the sound of a jackhammer from the other side of the door.

"You're crazy!" Sasuke said as he backed away from his door for safety.

I wasn't crazy. Oh no. I was insane! If I wanted something, I go for it no matter what I have to do.

I realized the jackhammer wasn't working so I turned it off. I soon dug deeper into the bag and pulled out shovel. I began to hit the doorknob with it, but instead, it bent the shovel. I sighed. I guess I had to use it.

"Oh shit" Naruto said as he ran away.

"What is it?" Neji asked. His eyes widened when he saw me pull out a bomb.

"Are you crazy?" Sai asked me as the brothers ran away from Sasuke's room. I put the bomb on Sasuke's door as I went to where the brothers were.

"Sasuke, watch out! The hag has a bomb!" Sai warned. I pushed the switch as it exploded. Smoke filled the room. When it went away, Sasuke's door was still there in one piece.

"What the hell is his door made out of?" I asked. The brothers laughed.

"Do you give up?" Neji asked. I stuck my tongue out at him as I turned to face Naruto. "Naruto-kun, how much time do I have left?"

"You have five minutes" Naruto answered.

"Okay" I said as I grabbed the bag and went to the kitchen. To get through a guy's heart is through his stomach right? I prepared tomato soup as I ran back to Sasuke's room. I turned on the fan and faced it to Sasuke's door so it would blow the smell to his room.

"That's not going to wo-"Shikamaru stopped talking when Sasuke's door opened.

"Is that tomato soup?" He asked me. I smiled.

"Mhm. Do you want some?" I asked trying to hold back my grin. He nodded as he opened his door wide open. I gave the guys a victory sign as I entered the room. Naruto stopped the timer as I only had 2 seconds left.

"Taa-daa" I said as I smiled. "Now you guys have to acknowledge me as your mother"

"She actually made it into Sasuke's room" Shino said surprised. Sasuke soon realized what happened as he made an angry expression. He had a light blush across his face when he realized he fell for such a trick.

"Who told her about the tomatoes?" Sasuke asked. He was embarrassed. Everyone looked at Naruto who waved his hands in front of him.

"It wasn't me. Honestly!" Naruto said. "Itachi told her"

"Itachi?!" Sasuke growled as he looked at me. "You talked to Itachi?!"

"He talked to us first. I was asking Naruto what your favorite food was, and then he just happened to be there and answered the question. That good-for-nothing Sasori was there too. I might have killed him if Naruto didn't stop me" I answered.

Naruto shivered. "Never make her mad"

"Since I was able to enter the room, will you guys think of me as a mother if not someone close to it?" I said.

"I already do" Naruto grinned.

"I know" I smiled back. I looked back at the other brothers.

"It's too troublesome. Besides, we're like the same age. Isn't that awkward?" Shikamaru said. That was a "no".

"No" Neji said flatly. I frowned. I soon looked at Shino, Sai, and Sasuke to say something. I got closer to them and smiled.

"Of course, Sakura-san. I always keep my word" Shino said.

"Che…" Sasuke said as he glared at me then looked away.

"Why would I want a hag for a mother?" Sai asked as he looked away.

I tilted my head as I noticed the blushes they were trying to hide. I shook my head as I thought nothing of it.

"Since we all here, we should all get to know each other" I said. I got a silent reply.

"Well, what's there to know about us? Ino probably told you everything there is to know." Naruto said.

"You know Ino?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, she's like my best friend since elementary. You probably know the rest of my friends like Hinata Hyuga, Tenten Kunai, Temari Suna, Gaara Suna, Kankuro Suna, Lee Rock, Chouji Akimichi, and Kiba Inuzuka."

"Ino, Chouji and I have known each other since the day we were one. Our dads were all best friends and stuff before-"I noticed Shikamaru's smile turn into a frown.

"Lee and Tenten were my best friends. Hinata is my cousin" Neji stated.

"Kiba and Hinata are closes friends of mine…" Shino said.

"Gaara transferred to our school last year since his brother and sister had already graduated over at the other school." Naruto said. "We played basketball against their old school before."

"Oh yeah, talking about schools. I'll be going to Konoha high the following semester" I said with a smile.

Sasuke smirked. "You? You don't even look rich enough to go to Konoha. You're probably using Minato's inheritance money to get yourself into our school."

"You don't even know what you're talking about!" I yelled. "For your information, I got into your school through the entrance exam."

Shikamaru's eyes widened. "You're the honor student that received a perfect score on the entrance exam?"

"Uh, yeah?" Shikamaru was making a big deal about it? So what if I passed it with flying colors?

"No one is able to pass it, especially with someone like Morino Ibiki watching over you the whole time." Naruto said as he spread his arms out.

"You mean that bald guy with the scar? He wasn't that scary" I said.

"She's cool" Naruto said as he patted me on the back. "I like her!"

"I'll accept you as a mother" Shino said as he walked up next to me.

"I won't" Sasuke and Sai said at the same time. They soon glared at each other. "Stop copying me! I'm warning you!"

"How troublesome. I don't know yet. I just met you" Shikamaru said as he walked away from the group. I pouted. They were really giving me a hard time about this.

"Hn" Neji said as he followed after Shikamaru.

I soon thought about what Chouji told me about Shikamaru.

"Hey Shikamaru!" I shouted to him. He turned around.

"What do you want woman?" He asked me.

I grinned at him. "I'll play you Shougi. If I win, you have to write a written oath saying you'll acknowledge me as your mother. If I lose, I'll be your personal servant for week. I'll do anything you say."

I saw Shikamaru's lips tug into what seemed like a smirk.

"Fine. Be prepared for a week of hell" Shikamaru said.

I smirked. The cocky ones always lose.

Shikamaru and I were on the living room floor. His brothers formed a small circle around us. Naruto had gotten out a camcorder. He wanted to tape the whole event just in case I actually won and had proof.

Shikamaru and I were already 10 minutes into the game. It was his turn as I watched him pick up the knight. When I saw him do that, I shook my head. I saw his eyebrows furrow when he noticed me do that. He began to pick up the knight and put it in place. As he did, I made a "tsk" sound. For some reason that sound had stopped him. He looked at me before putting the knight down. He sat in a weird position as his fingers made a circle. He closed his eyes for what seemed like a few minutes.

"He's getting serious now" I heard Neji say.

"Ah" Sasuke answered back.

Shikamaru's eyes snapped back open as he had a confused look. I saw him move the piece to a different spot. Was he serious? It was soon my turn as I picked up my piece and moved it. I smiled.

"Checkmate. I win" I said as I stood up. Naruto's mouth dropped to the ground. Shino lifted his shades up a bit to really look at the board. Sasuke's and Neji's eyes widened. Sai just raised an eyebrow at us. Shikamaru just looked at the board.

"H-How? Wha-?"Shikamaru couldn't even talk.

"Sakura-chan! You did it!" Naruto shouted for joy as he spun me around in the air. I laughed.

"Put me down now" I said. Naruto grinned as he put me down. Shikamaru came up to me as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Good Job. No one's ever beaten me before in this game. But I have a question. What did you see that I didn't?" Shikamaru asked.

I tilted my head a bit. "What do you mean?"

"You saw that if I did that first move, I would have lost" Shikamaru said.

My eyes widened before I smiled. I chuckled a bit. "No silly. If you made that move, I would have lost"

Shikamaru's eyes widened as I got a paper out. "Here, please keep your part of the deal"

Shikamaru smirked. "You don't need a written oath from me. I'll consider you my mother. You have my word"

My eyes widened as I pulled Shikamaru into a tight hug. "Thank you!"

Naruto soon pulled me into a hug. "You're going to be our mother now"

Sasuke came up behind Naruto and chopped him in the head. "Stop hugging her every chance you get"

I looked at Naruto and Shikamaru. I got Naruto, Shino, and Shikamaru down. Just three more to go.

"This video is going to go on YouTube!" Naruto shouted as Shikamaru chased him around the house.

I just laughed. This mother thing might turn out for the best…for all of us.

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I found time to update with my busy schedule. How's everyone's summer so far? I got my first job and loving it. How does everyone feel about how the Naruto manga is going? I'm excited for what's happening next. The Shugo Chara manga is slow in updating. RAWR! Haha well, I hope you guys all liked this chapter. Please wait until my next update and don't forget to review.

**R.I.P Micheal Jackson, King of Pop.**

-Kumiko


	4. Misunderstanding

Did some re-editing on this chapter.

**I FINALLY UPDATED! I'm so sorry I took so long. I was so busy at work and got caught up with other stuff to actually just sit down and type up the next chapter. But, I finally found a day to just type. So I hope you like the next chapter. So far for the poll:**

**Sasuke: 3**

**Naruto:0**

**Sai:0**

**Neji: 1**

**Shikamaru:0**

**Shino:0**

**Gaara: 1**

**Kiba:0**

**Lee:0**

**OOH! And what's this : A harem: 1**

**How interesting. I might reconsider who I picked and go with the harem haha. JUST KIDDING…maybe. Don't forget more people can be added to the list as the story goes on. So if you don't like anyone on the current list, hopefully the person you want Sakura to be with will end up in the story. Well, let's carry on with the story.**

I got up from bed as I decided to cook breakfast for my new sons. I began making pancakes and cooking bacon and eggs. This whole thing is still kind of awkward for me. I mean, we're all the same age except for Neji. I don't understand why they're all living with Minato. I remember Naruto telling me that they all knew each other before they were adopted by Minato, like they were childhood friends. I had the gang at the Youthful Café do some research on the boys.

Naruto's mother died giving birth to him and his biological father was said to have left his mother when he found out that his girlfriend was pregnant. What a bastard! So before the mother died, she asked the doctor to send Naruto to a family friend named Iruka. After a while, Naruto became a troublemaker and a rebel. He would always get into fights. I was surprised. That didn't sound like the Naruto I knew. He soon ran away as Minato found him. Iruka asked him to take care of Naruto as a son as he suddenly disappeared from his life. Sad huh? I'm surprised that Naruto is so cheerful and friendly. He's the second son Minato took in.

Sasuke's parents were killed when he was very young. The Uchiha clan was a very famous family and was rich as well. The media made it seem like it was Sasuke's older brother named Itachi who killed his parents. It was suspicious since Itachi vanished from the public's eye a few days after the incident. But I believe there's more to the story than that. Sasuke began to live with Kakashi. He soon asked Minato to adopt him as a son since Kakashi felt like he wouldn't be a good father to the boy. What a wise choice. I saw those books he read! He was the third son Minato took in.

Sai was an orphan who was greatly gifted in art. He was considered a prodigy at a very young age. A man named Danzou took him in. The man soon died from a heart attack and Sai was sent back to the orphanage. Minato was interested in him and took him away from the orphanage. He was the first son Minato took in.

Shikamaru used to have a good relationship with his parents until they found out he was going to be the strategist of the military in the future. His mother didn't want that but the father was okay. They soon started to fight a lot causing Shikamaru to be sad. One day, he argued with his parents and ran away from the pressure they were putting him in. He went to Ino's house to hide. There was a bad storm outside as his parents drove to find him and apologize. Sadly, they got into a terrible accident. Ino and Chouji said that they offered Shikamaru to stay at their house but he ran away. I guess sometime later, he met Minato as he took him in. Shikamaru was the fourth son to be adopted.

Neji was from the Hyuga family, one of the strongest and wealthiest families in Japan. Hinata never really told me what happened to cause Neji to leave the family. I didn't want to pressure the poor girl. She really cares about Neji. But what I heard from Lee and Tenten, there was something about being the next heir to the Hyuga family. Just like Shikamaru, I guessed he met Minato and was adopted as his fifth son.

Shino was the one with the most normal situation. He just wanted to escape the problems in his family. His father wanted the best for Shino and since he and Minato were good friends, he asked Minato to take his son in for a while. He was the last son to be adopted.

I heard footsteps in the hallway as I saw Neji walk into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Neji-kun!" I greeted. He was surprised to see me there. He was still in his boxers and was shirtless. But what surprised me was how nice his hair looked even in the morning. I unintentionally touched my hair as I touched his. Neji raised an eyebrow at me as he looked at me weirdly. I didn't like the look in his eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" Neji asked.

I frowned as I let go of both our strands of hair. "You have softer hair than I do! You have to tell me your secrets! I don't like my hair. I wish I had nice hair like you" I said with a smile of admiration.

Neji smirked as he opened the fridge and took out a carton of orange juice. "I like your hair too. It's unique"

Mentally, my mouth dropped. Did Neji actually say something nice about me? Everyone! Call the media, because Neji actually complimented me!

I soon smiled. "Thank you! I can tell you, I did not dye my hair. I was born with this hair color."

"Really now" Neji said as he grinned. He soon cornered me against the counter as he brought his face close to me. I could feel his hot breath lightly against my lips. That's how close he was! "I know a way to see if pink really is your true hair color. Let's go to my room and I'll show you how" I looked at him weirdly. WTF! MAJOR WTF!!!!

"HANDS OFF MY SAKURA-CHAN!" A booming voice came into the kitchen as Naruto came and pushed Neji away from me. Naruto soon pulled me into a hug.

"Naruto!" Neji growled. "I was just testing her to see if she was like anyone of those fangirls at school"

"Of course she's not! She's our mother now! Not some random fangirl! Sheesh" Naruto said.

I sighed as I ignored the two and continued on with breakfast. I soon poured the yolk into the hot pan as it made a weird sound. My eyes widened. Shit, I forgot to put the oil.

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru said as he put oil in the pan for me. "…And this is the girl who beat me in shougi" I let out a light laugh as Shikamaru just smiled.

"Good morning, Shika-kun!" I greeted happily.

"S-Sakura-chan! You didn't greet me good morning!" Naruto cried. I smiled at Naruto's antics.

"Good morning, Naruto" I said as I ruffled his hair. "Do you want pancakes or bacon and eggs?"

"Pancakes!" Naruto said as he sat himself down as I served him a plate. I soon looked over to Shikamaru.

"I'll have bacon and eggs" He answered. I nodded as I served him a plate.

"Neji-kun?" I looked up to see Neji wasn't in the kitchen anymore. "Where'd he go?"

"Don't mind him" Naruto said. "He never eats breakfast at the house. He usually goes out to eat, we all used to. The old man used to cook breakfast for all of us, but we never actually sat down and ate together. Everyone had their own problems. He soon stopped." The way Naruto said it…it sounded like he regretted not eating with Minato.

When it was just me and Minato, he would tell me stories about how he used to make breakfast for everyone in the house, including the butlers and maids. His "guests", who were actually his sons, didn't get along with each other. Never in their life had they sat down together for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

"You can stop making the food. I know for a fact that Sasuke and Sai aren't going to come down for breakfast. Like Neji, they're going to bounce" Shikamaru said.

I frowned. "Why?"

"Simple" Naruto said as he stuffed two pancakes in his mouth. "Wevewywudy wates wuchuwer" I laughed as Shikamaru sighed.

"Everybody hates each other" Shikamaru translated for me. "The only people in this house hold that I can tolerate are this idiot, Neji, and Shino. The others just piss me off."

"Sasuke and I are best friends!" Naruto said. "And I care for the others like their my brothers"

I smiled. I wish the brothers all could be like Naruto. I watched Naruto stuff more pancakes into his mouth. Eh…forget what I said earlier.

"How do I get the others to think of me as their mother or at least like me?" I said as I rested my head on the table.

"Just be yourself" Naruto grinned. I sighed as I told the guys I was going out for the day.

Just be yourself? Being myself is what caused me to be in this situation! As I walked around I saw Sai in front of an art store. I soon walked up to him.

"Hey Sai-kun" I greeted. "Did you have breakfast? Because you didn't come down stairs for this morning"

"Yes I did, Ugly" Sai responded as he stared at the different art brushes in the display window.

I glared at him for the nickname. Sai just gave me a smile. My eyes narrowed. That smile was a fake.

I noticed at the reflection that Sai was in deep thought.

**Flashback:**

_Sai, Neji, and Sasuke all ended up going to the same restaurant to eat breakfast. So they decided to eat together._

"_I can't believe the Dobe, Shikamaru, and Shino all agreed to think of her as a mother. Have they lost their minds?" Sasuke asked._

"_Well, I cannot deny that Haruno-san is beautiful" Neji said as he took a sip of tea._

"_Not you too" Sasuke groaned. "We don't even know why she's here with us in the first place. I'm sure that family lawyer of ours or Kakashi told her about the inheritance money. She probably wants it so she wanted to play the mother to get it"_

"_I know what you mean" Neji said. "I have a plan. Sai, I want you to be friend her and get close to her. That way you can find out her weaknesses, strengths, etc. Do whatever you can to get to her. While you do that, Sasuke and I will dig deeper to find out why she's here in the first place. But don't forget; don't fall for her tricks like the others do. That goes for you too Sasuke"_

_Sasuke scoffed. "Don't worry. I won't. I'm more worried about you Hyuga" _

_Sai just nodded his head and finished breakfast. He would not fall for her tricks. He was better than that!_

**End of Flashback**

"Would you like to hang out today hag?" Sai asked. "Just you and me?"

I tilted my head a bit to the side, surprised by his question. "What are you up to?"

Sai began to back away a bit from me. "I just want to spend a day with my mother" Sai smiled. There goes that fake smile again.

"But yesterday, you didn't want to think of me as your mother" I said as I put my hands to my hips.

"But last night, I gave it some thinking. I never knew what it was like to have a mother before. I was an orphan before. With the best of your ability, will you be a good mother to me?" Sai held my hands up to his chest. I looked back at our hands to his face then back to his hands to his face. The people walking down the street stopped and stared at us.

"Aw, look at that couple. Aren't they just adorable?" A mid-aged woman said to her husband. "Oh my, isn't that Sai Namikaze, you know that famous art prodigy at Konoha Academy?" The husband chuckled as he patted me hard on the back.

"Good for you girl. You got a good catch!" He said to me as he pushed me hard against Sai. I ended up lying on top of him. Another woman and her daughter soon passed by us. The woman gasped as she quickly covered her daughter's eyes.

"Have you no shame" The woman scolded at us. "You're in public. Think of the children!"

I looked against Sai and rolled my eyes. I got up and dusted myself. I soon helped Sai up as I noticed he was turning pink.

"Are you getting sick?" I asked as I placed a hand on his cheek. Sai's face soon turned red as he turned around and grabbed my hand.

"Where are we going?" I asked Sai. He pulled me into the art store as he let go of my hand and went to the cashier. They talked for a few minutes as the cashier went to the back and came out with a box. He opened it so Sai could see inside. Sai nodded as the cashier ringed it up.

"There you go. You know there's a restaurant that is having a special event for couples. My wife and I can't go." The cashier gave Sai two tickets. "You should take your girlfriend and yourself there and treat yourselves for free. Have fun"

I began to twitch. Why does everyone think Sai and I are together?

"Let's go" Sai said as he held my hand.

"If you keep holding my hand, everyone is going to think we're together!" I growled.

"But it will help keep the perverts away" Sai said as he signaled to the back of us. I turned around to see a couple of guys staring at me like a piece of meat. I quickly turned around. Ew! I tightened my grip on Sai's hands as we continued our walk to the restaurant. As we headed to the restaurant, people began to notice Sai…a lot. I do remember one of my friends telling me that Sai was a famous painter and art prodigy at their school.

Surprisingly, Sai acted like a gentleman around me. He opened the door for me and helped me with my seat. I was beginning to like our lunch date until a group of girls came into the restaurant.

A girl with hot pink hair and matching eyes spotted Sai and me as the group came up to us.

"Sai-kun?" She screeched.

"Oh my!" A girl with purple hair and hazel eyes said.

"We missed you" said a redhead with an afro like hair.

The girls had completely ignored me.

"Hello Karin, Ami, and Kasumi" Sai greeted with that fake smiled with that fake smile of his.

"How are you and Sasuke-kun?" Karin asked.

"We're good. I don't want to be rude, but can you three leave. I'm kind of here with someone and it's really rude if you ignore her like that" Sai said. That's when the girls finally looked at me. The girl with the purple hair looked really familiar.

"Hello, I'm Sakura Haruno" I introduced myself.

"I'm Karin Takeshima" Karin introduced herself.

"I'm Ami Hamasaki" Ami said with a smile but her eyes glared at me.

"And I'm Kasumi Watanabe. How do you know Sai-kun?" I could hear a tone of jealousy in her voice. I didn't want to tell them I lived with him. But I couldn't help but feel like I've heard their names before excluding Kasumi.

"I'm a family friend" I told them. Sai just smiled.

"Oh! Okay. Well if you guys are just like family then I don't have to put you on the list" Kasumi said.

I paled. What list?

"Well, we'll just see you at school in a few months. Bye Sai-kun" The girls said as they left.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"Jealous?" Sai asked as he smirked.

I snorted. "I don't go for my sons"

After a couple minutes, Sai and I left the restaurant as we began to walk around again. Looking around, I saw a little boy chasing after his toy ball in the middle of the street. A large truck was heading after him. The truck driver was wildly honking his horn.

"Zero!" His dad called out for him. I soon made a run for it as I wrapped my hands around the boy.

"Sakura!" Sai shouted as I could feel him hold me tight as we all dodged the truck. Sai broke our fall as we lied on the other side of the road. Cars and people stopped to see the scene. I could feel Zero moving in my arms. He began to cry as I looked to see Sai knocked out.

"Sai-kun?" I said as I shook him. He didn't respond as I began to get worried. The dad of the boy ran up to us as he grabbed his son and apologized to us multiple of times. Sai slowly woke up as he clutched his head.

"Are you alright, Mr. Namikaze?" The dad asked.

"I-I'm fine" Sai muttered as he clanged on to me. The father thanked us once more before yelling at his son for his actions. I walked Sai over to the park as we sat on a nearby bench.

"Are you sure you're alright?" I asked as Sai seemed to have a dazed look.

"Don't worry, Ugly" Sai said as he soon rested his head on my lap. "Let me just rest my head for a while."

"Massaging your head will help you" I said as I began to help him with his headache.

"Thank you…maybe I will consider you as my mother, ugly" Sai said as he closed his eyes and rest.

"Are you forreal?" I asked but Sai didn't answer me. He fell asleep on me.

"Four sons down, two more to go" Shizune said. My mouth dropped. Where did she come from?

"Shizune-san!" I said surprised.

"You're on your way to finishing off your first motherly goal" Shizune smiled. "I'm proud of you"

"Can I found out what the second motherly goal is?" I asked nicely.

Shizune crossed her arms to an X in front of her. "Sorry, not until you finish the first one"

I glared at her as she walked up to us. She slowly ruffled Sai's hair. I looked down at Sai and smiled.

"I really hope you won't give up on the boys. You will be a good thing for them. It's about time they had an important woman in their life." Shizune said as she patted my head motherly.

"Huh?" I looked up to see Shizune had vanished. She was like a ninja! **(lol)**

I sighed. Well, we better head home. I had to check on my other sons. I gently lifted Sai's head from my lap as I put him on my back. I may not look like it, but I'm really strong. I'm not your ordinary girl!

I blushed as everyone was looking at me when I carried Sai.

"Mom, look at the lady! She's carrying Sai Namikaze" A teen said excitedly. Carrying Sai wouldn't be a good idea! RAWR! Why could Sai be a normal guy? Why did he have to be famous? Grabbing the cell phone Kakashi had given me, I called for to Kakashi to pick us up.

Kakashi arrived a couple minutes later as took us back to the house. I thanked Kakashi as I carried Sai on my back once more.

"Sakura…" Sai whispered against the shell of my left ear. "You smell nice"

I ignored his comment. He must have really hit his head hard. "Are you awake now?" I asked. Sai didn't say anything but I could feel his hot breath against my ear. It felt weird.

Both of us entered the house to see my other sons looking at us weird. Everyone's eyes were like saucers.

"WHAT THE HECK!" Naruto shouted as he pointed fingers at Sai and I. "WHAT IS SAI DOING ON YOUR BACK?"

I bonked Naruto on the head. "Must you yell? Sai-kun and I almost got hit by a truck saving a little boy."

"Sai saved a little boy?" Shikamaru asked. "Sai never does good deeds for anyone"

I shook my head. "I went to save the little boy and Sai went to save me. He broke our fall"

"I'll help you put him in his room, Sakura-san" Shino offered to help me.

"Thank you Shino-kun" I smiled as Shino smiled back. While I was away, Sasuke and Neji began to talk to themselves.

"I heard from Shizune that Sai is going to acknowledge Sakura as his mother" Neji said.

"I can't believe she even got to Sai, of all people" Sasuke growled.

"Why can't you guys just leave her alone?" Naruto growled. "Why can't you guys just accept her?"

"Because!" Sasuke shouted. "No one would be that nice to you!"

"Yes they would! Sakura-chan is nice to everyone" Naruto said as he punched Sasuke in the face. "Why can't you just be happy that there's someone who wants to care for you?"

Sasuke punched Naruto in the face back as he glared at him. "No one could be like that"

"How troublesome, I'll go help Sakura-san with Sai" Shikamaru said as he left the room.

Naruto glared at Sasuke and Neji. "Just trust her. She's not up to anything. She really wants to be here with us" With that said, Naruto walked away.

"I still can't trust her" Neji said.

**XxXxXxX**

A few weeks later, everyone had gone to do some errands as Sasuke and I were the only ones in the house. The doorbell rang as I went to answer the door. Looking out, no one was on the doorsteps except for a package. Reading the sticker on it, it was for Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, you have a package" I yelled for him. "Can I open it for you?"

"Go ahead and open it" Sasuke shouted back to me.

I put the package on the floor as I sat down to open it. The package was wrapped in a weird black and purple wrapping. A weird like purple bow was tied around it. I untied the tie and ripped the paper apart. I soon opened the box.

BOOM!

Sasuke's eyes widened when he heard the explosion from his room. He ran out of his room quickly.

"Sakura!" Sasuke called out as I was found clutching on to my face. There was an explosion from the box. My face hurt so badly. It felt like my face was on fire. "Sakura, are you alright?"

I could hear the fear in his voice. "H-Hospital!" I said. Sasuke nodded as he carried me to the garage. We took one of the cars in the garage as Sasuke sped all the way to the hospital.

Sasuke waited for hours in the waiting room. The doctor had told him I was very lucky. I wasn't going to be disfigured nor did I need surgery. Sasuke was able to visit me afterward.

"Hey" Sasuke said awkwardly as he entered my room with a knock on the door.

"Hey yourself" I said weakly.

"I'm...I'm sorry" Sasuke said feeling guilty. "I shouldn't have let you open that package. That explosion was meant for me."

I just smiled as I held Sasuke's hand. I had bandages around my head and a large bandage on my cheek.

"A mother has to protect her son, right?" I answered. My answer seemed to have shocked Sasuke. So I asked a question. "Who sent the package?"

"That bastard. He always wanted to fight me, but I didn't think he'd go this far" Sasuke muttered.

Someone wanted to fight Sasuke? Well, Sasuke was really popular at school from what I heard. Who wouldn't be jealous of Sasuke?

"I told him to meet me this weekend. We're going to settle this. I'm going to let him get away with this" Sasuke growled.

I wasn't paying attention to what he said as I stared at him with admiration. He seemed to have noticed it because he gave me a weird look.

"What?" He asked.

"And here I thought you didn't care about me at all" I said happily.

Sasuke blushed. "Yeah, well, don't get used to it Pinky. I still won't accept you as my mother"

"Don't call me pinky!" I said as I accidentally slapped him. My hand print was on his cheek.

"Oops." I said. I soon placed my hand over my hand print. "It fits" I grinned. Sasuke's face turned red as the print went away.

"Aww, your blush made it go away" I pouted.

"I'm not blushing" Sasuke snapped.

"Are you done flirting?" Sasuke and I looked at my door to see the rest of my sons at the doorway. It was Neji that asked that question.

"I wasn't flirting!" Sasuke muttered.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried as he hugged me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Naruto" I said as I hugged him back. Soon a new group of people came to the hospital to visit me.

"Forehead-girl!" Ino called out as she pushed Naruto out of the way and took his place.

"What the hell Ino?!" Naruto shouted.

"Stop hogging her. Because of you, I barely see her anymore." Entering the room were Gaara and his siblings, Tenten, Lee, Kiba, Chouji, and Hinata.

"Ino! Chouji!" Shikamaru said kind of awkward.

Ino blushed as she went to hug Shikamaru. Chouji went up to him as well to chat.

"Gaara! Long time no see" Naruto greeted. Gaara nodded his head towards Naruto. Naruto also talked to Temari and Kankuro.

"Kiba. Hinata" Shino greeted with a wave of the hand.

Tenten and Lee went to talk to Neji.

"Did you tell them about our situation?" Sai asked.

"Of course she did" Temari said. "Sakura is like my little sister. We're all like family to her. So she had to tell us"

"Well she's our mother now!" Naruto said with a smirk before sticking his tongue out at Temari.

"Shut the fuck up, you brat" Temari said as she kicked Naruto in the face.

"N-Naruto-kun" Hinata said as she helped him up. Hinata soon looked at Neji to see him glaring at her. Tenten and Lee were behind him.

"Neji-niisan" Hinata said hi to him shyly.

Neji said nothing as he turned around to face Tenten and Lee. Hinata tried to hold back her tears as I gave her a sad look. Why was Neji such an ass to Hinata? What the hell happened between them? When they were younger, they seemed to have gotten along so well.

"What happened to you?" Gaara asked. "Naruto called us to say that you were in the hospital but didn't know why"

"I-"Sasuke cut me off.

"Kabuto sent me a package that carried an explosion and Sakura opened it" Sasuke said.

"I hate that guy" Naruto growled.

"Kabuto. That guy that's always around Orochimaru-sensei like a dog?" Kankuro asked.

"Ah" Sasuke said as he nodded his head.

Kabuto? Who's Kabuto?

"Who is he?" I asked.

"He used to go to our school last year" Chouji answered. "He graduated and goes to the same school as Neji, Tenten, Lee, Temari, and Kankuro. He and Sasuke hate each other. Kabuto belongs to a yakuza."

After a while everyone besides Sasuke left the room. My sons drew straws to see who got to take me back home to the house. Sasuke won that.

"Man, I don't understand why I feel so bad right now" Sasuke said.

"Don't worry about it Sasuke-kun" I said. "I'm perfectly fine"

"Sure you are Pinky" Sasuke said. "I have to make it up to you"

"I think you know what I want" I said. Sasuke smirked.

"You want me to acknowledge you as my mother, huh?" Sasuke said. I smiled brightly.

Sasuke sighed. "Alright"

"Thank you!" I said excitedly as I gave Sasuke a peck on the cheek.

"Hn" Sasuke said as he looked away from me blushing.

Five sons down, one more to go.

**XxXxXxX**

Neji had walked Tenten home as he was deep in thoughts. He had a feeling Sai and Sasuke had fallen for Sakura's tricks. He was the only one left to finish off their mission. He had a feeling Kakashi knew the reason why Sakura was their mother since he introduced her to them. He knew how to get him to talk.

"NO! NOT MY BOOKS!" Kakashi cried as a stack of his perverted books were next to a small bonfire Neji had created.

"Why did Minato marry Sakura? Neji asked him.

"Why should I tell you?" Kakashi asked.

Neji tossed a book to the bonfire. Kakashi screamed. Kakashi soon looked at him as Neji noticed a change in his eyes. Kakashi smirked.

"You want to know why Sakura is acting as a mother to you guys. She owes Minato a lot of money. And I mean a lot of money. So if she is able to have you guys acknowledge her as your mother, she would be able to find a way to get out of her debt with Minato" Kakashi said.

Neji dropped the book he was holding. He knew she was up to something and this was it. He was just using them to get her way out of debt. That bitch! He had to tell the others before they fall deeply in. He was the big brother after all.

**XxXxXxX**

Sasuke and I arrived home to see everyone in the living room.

"Hey everyone" I said. Neji was the one closest to me as he glared at me. Everyone else was silent behind him.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked.

"Get out of this house" Neji said to me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked surprised at his tone.

"I won't let you use my brothers to get yourself out of debt" Neji said.

"What are you talking about Neji?" Naruto asked.

"This woman here owes Minato money and a lot of it" Neji said as he crossed his arms.

My eyes widened. Who told Neji that?

"Is that true, Sakura?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah…" I said. I felt nervous.

"The only way to get out of the debt was to marry Minato and to have all of us to acknowledge her as our mother" Neji shouted.

"Sakura-chan, say it isn't so" Naruto said sadly.

"I-"

"There's nothing you can say now" Neji said.

"But I was in debt because-"

"Just stop talking" Sai said. "I don't want to hear it"

"But I-"

"Just get out" Sasuke said as he walked away from me.

I stopped trying to explain myself. I found it hard to talk or even breathe. "I understand" I said as I tried to hold in my tears. "I'll leave right now. If there is any kindness in you, you guys would at least drop all my things off at the Youthful Café Lee-san owns."

"Whatever, just leave" Shino said.

I gave Naruto a sad look. I thought he could be the one to believe or at least give me a chance to explain myself.

"Goodbye" I said as I walked out of the house and headed back to Konoha Park where my real house was. That night, I cried myself to sleep.

-

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-

**Poor Sakura. Sorry for making some of the guys seem like asses. But like Naruto said last chapter, the guys have a hard time trusting people. I hope I didn't have everyone accept her too fast. I'm not sure if I should keep Sai and Sasuke models and actors. I mean Sai is already an art prodigy at school and Sasuke is already the Student President at school. You guys tell me to make this story better. Oh and please don't forget to vote who you want Sakura to end up with.**

**-Kumiko**


	5. Let's Make Up

Hey you guys, as you guys probably noticed. I changed the title of the story from Love Love Love to Sakura Kiss. I thought it fit the story more if you read the lyrics of Sakura Kiss the opening song from Ouran High School Host Club compared to the lyrics of Love Love Love by Epik High. Well, I'm at FlagStaff, Arizona for vaction. Going to see the Grand Canyon tomorrow!! Anyways, enough with my rants, let's continue on with this lovely story, shall we?

Here is the poll rate so far:

**Sasuke: 5**

**Naruto:1**

**Sai:2**

**Neji: 3**

**Shikamaru:2**

**Shino:1**

**Gaara: 5**

**Kiba:1**

**Lee:1**

**A harem: 2**

Seems like Sasuke and Gaara are a tie.

**Sakura Kiss**

I opened my eyes to see myself in my tent. Why wasn't I at the house? That's when I remembered. Neji and the others kicked me out once again. Those bastards! They didn't even let me explain. I sighed. Whatever, I just find another way to make up my debt than staying in that zoo.

I looked over to my cute little panda money bank. Gaara got it for me on my birthday a couple months ago. It reminded me of him, so I called it lil Gaara. I laughed a little.

"So lil Gaara, you have to protect my 1,000 yen I have in there, okay? I'll be going around town to see if I can do some errands" I said as I left the tent.

As I walked around town, I was greeted by the people.

"Ah Sakura-chan, have you eaten anything today?" Mrs. Kawasaki asked me. She knew me since I was little. A lot of families had. I used to come around here with my mom when I was younger and help out. I swear Mrs. Kawasaki is super pretty. Not only does she have a nice body for a woman in her 50ths, she has beautiful red hair and dark jade eyes. I wonder what her son looks like.

"No, I haven't actually. Do you need my help with errands today, Mrs. Kawasaki?"

"No, my son is actually helping me today" She replied.

My eyes widened. "I don't mean to sound rude, but you have a son?"

She laughed at my question. "It makes sense you don't know about him. When you were younger, he and my husband went traveling for a couple years. He came back a few days ago. I'd love you guys to meet. He's actually around your age" She winked at me. We soon both laughed as she invited me for breakfast. I soon heard the front door open as someone was carrying bags.

"Ah, Hikaru!" Mrs. Kawasaki said as I heard someone enter the house. "There's someone I want you to meet"

"Mom, if you're trying to set me up with someone, it's not going to wo-"Hikaru entered the kitchen as his green eyes stared at me. He was really quite handsome. He had the same hair color as his mom.

"Hikaru" Mrs. Kawasaki said. "I want you to meet Sakura Haruno. Sakura-chan, meet my son, Hikaru.

"Hi, nice to meet you" I said as I stuck out my hand. Hikaru just stood there looking at my hand as if he never saw such a thing before.

"Hikaru! Don't be rude" His mother said as she gave him a push. "Go and shake her hand now!  
He shook my hand after a few minutes.

All I can say is…AWKWARD!

"Are you going to school this year?" Mrs. Kawasaki asked.

"Of course she is mother!" Hikaru said. "All girls go to school!"

His mother glared at him since he didn't know my predicament.

"Um, yes. Even though I don't have the money to go to school, I was able to pass the entrance exam to Konoha Academy!" I beamed.

"You're going to go to that rich school?" Mrs. Kawasaki asked excited. "My son happens to be going there this year as well! He was scouted by the soccer coach there."

"Um, yeah" Hikaru said as he turned red.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked as I placed my hand on his forehead. The redness in his face increased 10 times fold. I sighed. Why is everyone getting sick?

"Sakura-chan, you're still looking around for errands right? Go, take my useless son and let him help you with them?" Mrs. Kawasaki said.

"I am not useless!" Hikaru growled as he pulled me out of the house by the wrist.

"Have a good trip!" I heard Mrs. Kawasaki's voice fade out.

"I'm so sorry about my mom" Hikaru said as he scratched the back of his head. "She wants me to find a girlfriend before I graduate high school. How troublesome…it's so annoying."

I froze as I heard those words. I soon thought of Shikamaru and Sasuke. I shook my head. I shouldn't care about them anymore. They didn't want me there in the first place.

"Are you okay?" Hikaru asked me.

"I'm fine" I said as I forced a smile. Wow, I'm acting like Sai now.

"So what errands are you doing?" Hikaru asked as he looked around the stores.

"Whoever needs help, I help them" I answered. I soon saw an old woman trying to board on a bus but was having a hard time. I went up to her and helped her up.

"Oh Sakura-chan! Thank you so much! Here take 10 dollars and treat yourself to something good" She said as she handed me the bill.

"Thanks" I answered.

"So you only do errands to get cash?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow at me.

"I need it" I said not liking how this conversation was heading.

"Why not just ask your parents for money or something?" Hikaru said.

"I can't because they're six feet under right now" I said.

Hikaru's eyes widened as he was quiet for a bit. "I'm sorry"

"It's okay. You didn't know" I said trying to make him feel better.

"Who do you stay with, then?"

"I actually live as a hobo in Konoha Park." I said with a smile. Being a hobo there isn't that bad. I mean, I got to learn a lot of things like how to play different sports, how to fight, how to make my own cash, how to drink, etc.

'That's nothing to smile about' Hikaru probably thought.

For the rest of the day, we both went around town and got to know each other well. We became good friends in a day. How awesome is that?

"Arg, I'm hungry. Youthful Café sounds good!" Hikaru smiled as he led me in. I took a deep breath. Here it comes…

"SAKURA-SAN! WHO IS THIS MAN?" Lee's voice shouted.

"FOREHEAD-GIRL! WHY DOES SHE ALWAYS GET THE HOT GUYS?!" Ino screamed.

"Hello I'm Hikaru Kawasaki." Hikaru introduced himself as he put an arm around my waist. "I'm Sakura's new boyfriend" He joked.

"Hikaru!" I muttered.

"I-I wouldn't s-say that if I-I were you" Hinata tried to warn but it was too late.

"You better hope you're joking." A deadly voiced asked. I looked to see Gaara glaring at Hikaru.

"Oh Sakura, I didn't know you're already taken" Hikaru said as he smiled at Gaara.

"Gaara-kun, he's joking. We just met today!" I said.

Gaara still continued to glare at Hikaru as Gaara pulled me out of Hikaru's arms and into his.

"You're hanging out with a guy you just met?!" Lee cried. "Dangerous Sakura-san, absolutely dangerous!"

"He's just a friend. Take a chill pill, Lee" I said as he took deep breaths.

"Why aren't you with the boys?" Tenten asked me.

"I left…" I answered not wanting to talk about it. I hope they drop it. I could feel my nose stinging just thinking about it.

"What?" Temari asked.

"They don't want me there anymore!" I cried as I ran out of the café.

"Sakura!" Hikaru called after me.

Ino soon left the café after me as Hinata, Tenten, and Temari left with her.

**XxXxXxX**

"Hey, Sakura-chan, do you think you can make-"Naruto stopped talking when he entered the kitchen. His eyes darkened. That's right. Sakura left the house. Why did he feel so bad? Did Sakura really just use them to help herself out of debt? But it seemed like she was trying to say something but they wouldn't let her. What would have happened if they let her talk?

Naruto heard the sounds of tires screeching in front of their house.

"What the hell?" Neji asked as he went downstairs. He had finish taking a shower.

"Who's in the front?" Shikamaru asked as he was reading a book in the living room.

The brothers looked to see four familiar girls heading towards the front porch.

"They looked pissed" Sai said with a fake smile.

"Of course they're pissed. We did just kick Sakura-san out of our house" Shino said.

"They probably want to talk to us about Sakura" Sasuke said.

"Open these goddamn doors before I kick it open" Temari's voice shouted.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked as he let the girls in.

"We want to know why the hell Sakura left this house." Tenten asked.

"Well Tenten, she left because we found out what she was up to. I won't let her use us again!" Neji said.

"Use you? S-Sakura-chan would never do such a thing" Hinata cried.

"I heard the story from Kakashi and h-"Ino cut Neji off.

"Did you even try to hear Sakura's side of the story?" Ino demanded to know as she poked his chest. Neji was about to say something but he soon closed his mouth.

"N-Naruto-kun, I heard from Sakura-chan that you knew about her being poor" Hinata said.

"Oh yeah, huh! It must have slipped through my mind" Naruto said nervously.

"She's poor?" Everyone asked.

"She's been living in Konoha Park for a couple years now" Tenten said. "Her parents died in an accident when she was younger and she was left to live with her older brother Sasori."

"Sasori is her brother?" Sasuke asked. "He's best friends with Itachi"

"He began to gamble a lot and went into debt" Ino continued for Tenten. "Loan sharks soon came after her because he put her name on the debt papers until Minato came and paid the debt for her. In return she was tricked into marrying him when she signed an oath."

Neji bit his lower mouth. Damn, he felt guilty now.

"Shizune!" Neji called out as Shizune appeared in the room out of nowhere.

The girls were surprised when the school nurse appeared in the middle of the living room.

"You called?" Shizune asked calmly.

"Why is Sakura trying to be our mother?" Neji asked.

"Because she was tricked by Minato" Shizune said as she pulled out a scroll. "He made her sign an oath that said she'd pay back the debt to him someday. Under it was a marriage form because Minato didn't want to be alone when he died. You guys were out on vacation during the time. Not only did she have to be your mother, she has 20 goals to finish in order to pay off the debt. It was said in Minato's will. So Sakura is just being forced to do this. But I think she really wants to be here with you guys."

Everyone was quiet as Neji growled.

"Damn it. Where is she now?" Neji asked as he began to walk out the door.

"Neji-niisan, where are you going?" Hinata asked.

"Where do you think? To get my mother back!" Neji said as he slammed the door.

"Aw, he likes her" Temari smirked.

"Come on, we have to help find her too" Naruto said as everyone left to search for Sakura.

Shizune smiled as she rolled up the scroll in her hand. "Mother Goal number 1 is complete"

**XxXxXxX**

I sighed as I walked around the town. Why did I have to let them get to me? I saw a group of Yakuza in the alley next to me.

"Hey Kabuto, did you give the box to Sasuke?" A voice asked in the alley.

I stopped in my tracks. Kabuto…why does that name ring a bell? That's when it came to me! He was that Yakuza member that was after Sasuke and sent the box to him. Boy was I going to give him a piece of my mind.

"Of course I did, Zaku. But I heard someone else opened it" Kabuto answered. Soon a pebble hit him hard in the head, knocking off his glasses.

"What the hell?" Kabuto looked up to see me glaring at him.

"Leave Sasuke-kun alone!" I said.

"Aww, she must be a fan-girl" Zaku spoke.

"Why are you after Sasuke-kun?" I asked. Kabuto snapped his fingers as the gang made way for him.

"Our boss wants him to join us" Kabuto answered.

"I won't let Sasuke-kun join you" I snapped as I picked up a steel pole from the ground.

"A tiny girl against us Yakuzas?" Kabuto questioned as people laughed.

"Don't underestimate me!" I growled as I jumped up in the air.

I landed on Kabuto as I used his face to jump higher. I ended up giving him a bad bloody nose. That serves the guy right. You guys probably didn't know, but I used to be a Yankee when I was younger. But that's another story.

"Get her Dosu" Zaku shouted.

"Damn you" Dosu said as he came after me with a gun. I took the steel pole and shoved it into his stomach as he crouched down in pain. I soon began to get cornered by the other members.

"No one can save you now girly. You're going to regret messing with us" I closed my eyes expecting pain but it didn't come.

I opened my eyes to see long chocolate hair in front of me.

"Neji-kun…" I said surprised.

"You're tougher than I give you credit for…mom" Neji said as he smirked at me. My eyes widened as I began to cry.

"Come on, I can't beat them up on my own" Neji said.

I nodded my head as I wiped my tears away.

"Man, women are so emotional" Neji said as he punched a guy in the face.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as he ran and kicked a guy behind the head.

"Sakura-san, are you alright?" Shino asked me as he hit the guy that was trying to hit me from behind.

"I'm fine" I answered as I kicked a guy in the balls.

"Kabuto!" Sasuke growled as he punched Kabuto's bloody face.

He coughed out blood as he looked at Sasuke. "Who is she?"

"None of your business" Sasuke growled. "That's for sending that stupid box!" He punched Kabuto in the cheek. "That's for hurting her with that explosive" A punch in the already broken nose. "And that's for existing" An uppercut under the jaw. Kabuto flew and hit the wall. You could hear the crushing of the bones. Sasuke is scary when he's mad. Sasuke continued to punch Kabuto until Naruto and Neji had to hold him back.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!" I said excitedly. "I didn't know you guys could fight!"

"Same goes to you too" Shikamaru said with a smile.

"Let's go home. The alley reeks of decayed flesh" Sai said as everyone nodded. I looked back to see a pile of beaten up Yakuza. Ino's car stopped in front of the alley as the girls smiled.

"Let's go. We need to give them their alone time" Ino smiled as she drove off.

**XxXxXxX**

I sat on the couch as the boys were on the floor sitting on their knees. Naruto was the only one sitting next to me on the couch.

"Sakura-san…" Shino said as he looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes due to his sunglasses. "I want to say I'm really sorry for how my other brothers treated you. It wasn't right for them to do such a thing to a person like you"

"So you hold no responsibility at all?" Shikamaru muttered. "I'm sorry too Sakura. We all thought you became our mother because you wanted Minato's inheritance. So the first time you came to the house and played those tricks on you was my entire fault"

"What they said" Sasuke muttered. I heard Naruto snicker next to me.

"What's so funny?" I asked Naruto.

"That's the closest to sorry you'll ever get from Teme. He never says sorry to people" Naruto whispered as he put his right arm around my shoulder.

"I'm sorry I called you ugly" Sai said. "But that doesn't mean I'll stop calling you that. Consider it a fun bond between mother and son"

"Great" I forced a smile. Sai smiled back.

"I'm sorry I didn't help you out the other day. I should have known better. But it was all Neji's fault. He's the one who blamed you" Naruto grinned.

All eyes went to Neji who turned red with shame.

"Kakashi-sensei was the one who told me the story" Neji muttered.

Right after Neji said that Kakashi and Shizune appeared in our front door.

"Ah, so Sakura-chan is back" Kakashi said with a smile.

"Why did you lie to Neji about the reason Sakura became our mother?" Shikamaru asked.

"I didn't lie. I just didn't tell the whole story" Kakashi said. Everyone sweat dropped.

"It was a test" Shizune said. "You guys never really let anyone in. But I noticed how fast Sakura-chan here entered your hearts. Neji was the only one struggling"

"Did we pass?" I asked. Shizune smiled and nodded.

"Not only that, you already finished your first mother goal" Shizune said as she patted me in the head. "Good job"

I grinned really big as I pulled Naruto off the couch with me and danced around in a circle.

"Did you hear that, Naruto?" I said.

"Yeah! You did it" Naruto said dancing with me.

I soon stopped as I looked at my other sons. "Does that mean I can stay here with you guys?"

I watched as everyone nodded in agreement. I smiled as I flew myself onto them as we made all crashed on the floor. I didn't care if I was acting weird, I was freaking happy to be here with the guys again.

Shizune took out a camera and took pictures.

"Alright" Kakashi said breaking up our moment. "Sakura, I need you to come with me privately for a second." I gave him a confused look but went with him anyways.

"I'm here to tell you your next mother goal. You must have the boys take you on a vacation trip for the summer. But that catch is, they have to take you on their own free will." Kakashi said. "There's two parts to this goal. You'll find out the second part when you actually go on the trip."

"Is it with all of them together or separate vacations with each of them?" I asked.

"Hmm…the separate vacations sound interesting" Kakashi smiled. "I'll leave it up to the boys"

Great, how the heck am I supposed to get the guys to want to take me on vacation?

While I was talking to Kakashi, the boys were talking in the living room.

"Even though we said sorry, she's still probably upset about what we did to her" Naruto said.

"I heard from Ino that she was crying…a lot" Shikamaru said rubbing the back of his neck.

"We have to make it up to Sakura-san. I mean, who else can put up with the way we act?" Shino said.

"I have an idea!" Naruto grinned.

"That's a first" Sasuke said as he smirked.

"Shut the fuck up Teme. You're ruining my good moment" Naruto said. "Let's take her on vacation as a sorry present!"

"That's stupid" Neji said. "She's probably been on vacation a lot of t-"

"Sakura is a hobo living in Konoha Park, isn't she?" Sai asked.

"Fine" Neji said.

"We should ask her to live here with us as well" Shikamaru said.

"That's a good idea Shikamaru!" Sasuke said.

"Hey! I was the one who came up with the vacation trip!" Naruto said. "Anyways, do you guys want to have a family trip or just solo ones?"

The sons blushed as they thought about what could happen on the trip if they went with her alone. Let's just say it wasn't son-like thoughts.

"Family trip" Everyone agreed on.

"We haven't been on a family trip for a long time" Naruto smiled sadly. "The last time we went on a trip was when we were all 12"

"So where do you guys want to take her?" Sasuke asked.

"Somewhere near the beach" Kakashi voiced.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Neji asked.

"You guys should take her to the beach. I heard she's never been to the beach before. We should all take her to the summer house" Kakashi said.

"That's a good idea Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto grinned.

"Whatever." Neji said.

"What's a good idea?" I asked as I came into the room.

"We're going on vacation, ugly" Sai said. "To the beach"

"Vacation sounds good" Ino said as she let herself into the house. Tenten, Hinata, and Temari entered after her.

"Ino-pig!" I ran to hug my best friend. "Tenten, Hinata, Temari!" "Let me prepare some drinks" I soon left to the kitchen.

"I think we-"Neji cut Tenten off.

"You're not going Tenten" Neji said. "Neither are you three"

"Who said I wanted to come" Temari said. "Besides, she was just going to say that the girls and I were going to buy Sakura a bathing suit"

"That's nice of you guys" Shino said.

"Yeah but why a b-bathing suit?" Sasuke asked as his cheeks turned pink.

"Don't stutter" Temari said as she gave Sasuke a look.

"You guys didn't know?" Hinata asked. "Sakura doesn't own a bathing suit or that much clothes. She's been saving money to get into Konoha Academy and other academic things. She got into our school because of her brains so she could use the money all she wants but she decided not to."

"So hand over the money" Ino said as she stuck out her hand.

"Why do we have to pay?" Naruto asked.

"It would be better if you guys bought it for her" Temari grinned. "It would have more meaning to it"

"Or else, she would have to borrow one of our middle school bathing suits" Tenten said.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "I will not allow such a thing!"

"See, Kakashi-sensei's up for it!" Ino smiled.

"Don't count that pervert" The boys said.

"Here are the drinks" I said as I set them down on the table.

"Sakura-chan, let's go shopping today" Hinata said as she grabbed onto my hand.

"But I have no money…" I muttered.

"I'll pay for it" Sai said. "I get a lot of money for my artworks"

"Really?" I asked as my eyes got bigger. Sai blushed but nodded. I soon pulled Sai into a tight hug.

"Thank you!" I said.

"HANDS OFF SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto screamed as he tried to pull me away from Sai.

Kakashi smiled as he saw the guys glaring daggers at Sai. And he most definitely saw the competitive sparks flying between Sasuke and Sai.

I watched endlessly as the brothers glared at each other. Wow, shopping with my sons and best friends. I wonder how that will turn out.

**-**

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I added my new character Hikaru. He will be added into the list of people Sakura might end up with. Next chapter will be about shopping trip and the family trip to whatever my mind comes up with. Thank you for reading. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW AND VOTE!

-Kumiko


	6. Kidnapped?

Hey everyone, i'm at Phonix Arizona right now. It hot here haha i'm not used to it since i'm from California. I just watched the lastest Naruto Shippuden episode. It's freaking awesome and sad. Anyways with the story, I'm surprised somone voted for Hikaru. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

**Here's the poll status so far:**

**Sasuke: 7  
**

**Naruto:2**

**Sai:3**

**Neji: 3**

**Shikamaru:2**

**Shino:1**

**Gaara: 5**

**Kiba:1**

**Lee:1**

**Hikaru: 1**

**Kakashi: 1  
**

**A harem: 3  
**

**Sakura Kiss**

"Ah the mall!" Ino grinned as she stretched her arms out.

"She's home" Temari joked.

I smiled as I looked around. I've never been to this mall before. Everyone that shopped her was rich, famous, or even both. So before we left, Ino decided to give me a makeover. Now that I arrived at the mall, I regret letting her give me one.

"Ooh, check out that cutie with the pink hair" a guy said as he was passing by.

"I know what you mean, she's a 9 if not a 10" His friend said.

"Dudes, shut up, look who she's with" Another said.

"Shit! That's the student council from Konoha Academy. Never mind, she must be with one of them. Look at how they're staring at us. Like the boyfriend and his friends are protecting the girl of the group." The last guy said. "Let's go"

Great, I'm never going to make new friends.

"Can you guys take it down a few notches? You're scaring people away" I said as I glared at them.

"They were looking at you like a dog would with a bone." Naruto said. "It would be good to pretend you're with one of us. So people would think you're taken Sakura-chan. I volunte-"

Ino quickly pushed Naruto out of the way. "Naruto, go with Hinata. Tenten and Neji should go with each other. Temari can go with Shino, and I'll go with Shika-kun"

"But Ino, that only leaves Sasuke and Sai" I said.

I swear I saw Ino give me an evil smile. "Then you can go with both"

And that's how we walked around folk! Naruto was grumbling about how Ino was trying to play matchmaker. I could see how she was. Ino liked Shikamaru. I never met the guy until this week, but she's always told me she liked this guy at school who she knew for a long time and was really smart. So Shikamaru had to be the guy. It was obvious that Hinata liked Naruto. Who couldn't see that? Seriously, she turns red by just saying his name or him just looking at her. Well maybe Kiba was right. Naruto really was dense. I'm not sure about Tenten and Temari though. I always had a feeling Tenten liked Lee-san. Temari never told me who she liked. So maybe the matchmaking was just for Ino and Hinata.

"Actually…" Ino began to say. "Sakura, why don't you go with Shikamaru?"

"Eh?" I said looking at her confused. Did she not want to be with Shikamaru?

"I needed Sasuke-kun and Sai-kun to help me get something" Ino said as she pulled them away leaving me with Shikamaru.

"I guess it's just the two of us" I said as I linked arms with him. Shikamaru was surprised by my actions but said nothing.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked.

"I'm feeling Starbucks" I grinned as I pulled him to the nearest one. "Do you want one? My treat!"

"I never tried Starbucks before" He confessed as I stopped in my tracks.

"You never had Starbucks? What's wrong with you? You have to try a double chocolaty chip! It's my favorite!" I said as I got in line.

"Women are so troublesome" Shikamaru said as he followed me. When I finally got to the cashier, I was surprised to see…

"Hikaru!" I said. Hikaru looked up and smiled.

"Sakura, aren't you too poor to be at the mall" He whispered to me.

"You're a jerk" I said as I rolled my eyes.

"I know" He grinned

I shook my head as I laughed. "Can I have a double chocolaty chip?"

"Tall, Grande, or Venti?" He asked me.

"Grande" I smiled.

"That would be $3.30"

I was about to take out my money when Shikamaru quickly pulled out a five and paid for me.

Hikaru then noticed Shikamaru behind me. "Boyfriend number two?" He asked.

"Who, Shikamaru?" I asked as I pointed at him.

"How troublesome. I'm not her boyfriend" Shikamaru said.

"Oh, sorry man, it's just that you seem protective of her when I was talking to her and you paid for her drink and stuff. You were just like that Gaara guy that works at the Youthful café. I thought he was her boyfriend as well" Hikaru explained. "So what's your relationship with him, Sakura?"

I grinned at Hikaru as I patted Shikamaru on the back. "I'm his mommy"

Hikaru laughed. "Good one. Well, I'll talk to you some other time. I'm working. See you later"

"Alright. Bye Hikaru" I said as I went in the other line to get my drink.

"A friend of yours?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah. Our moms used to be good friends. So ever since that accident, she's always been looking out for me." I smiled.

"Sakura?" A worker called out as she handed me my drink. I waited for her to give me it but noticed she had hearts in her eyes. I followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at Shikamaru.

"Would you like anything sir?" The girl asked. She was trying to fix herself before squeezing her arms a little into her chest trying to show her cleavage to us. What's happening to the girls these days?

I rolled my eyes. Just give me my damn drink already.

"No ma'am. My girlfriend and I are going to share a drink" Shikamaru said. His answer surprised me. Shikamaru grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Starbucks. I looked back to see the woman glaring daggers at me. She pissed me off so I stuck my tongue out at her.

Shikamaru and I finally stopped walking as we sat down at the water fountain in the center of the mall.

"Do you always go through that?" I asked as I began to take a sip of my drink.

"Yeah. That's why women are so troublesome." Shikamaru said. I glared at him as he let out a chuckle. "You're different though. When girls see me and my brothers, they all begin to act like fangirls. I thought I would never meet a girl who could stand against our charm"

"But my friends don't eye-google you or anything" I said.

"I know. But it's only because I've known Ino since we were in diapers. So of course she wouldn't act like that. We're best friends. She wouldn't like me like that"

"I'd think otherwise" I muttered.

"Huh?" Shikamaru said.

"Nothing" I smiled. "Oh, here try some" I lifted my drink closer to Shikamaru's mouth.

"If it tastes bad, you have to cook me a really good dinner. None for the others" Shikamaru said as he took a sip. I watched with anticipation as I saw him gulped the drink. He soon grabbed my drink from my hands and began to walk away. I grinned. That meant he liked the drink. I then realized that Shikamaru jacked me of my Double Chocolaty Chip.

"HEY!" I called out as I ran after him. "That's mine! Go buy your own"

Shikamaru smirked as he raised the drink above his head. I frowned. Curse my shortness!

"If I remember right, I did pay for it" Shikamaru said. I should have known better than to mess with him. This guy is going to become the Military's Strategist.

"Fine" I growled. There goes my Starbucks.

Shikamaru soon gave me back my drink. It was half gone. "I liked it" He said.

"I knew you would. Who doesn't like a Double Chocolaty Chip?" I said as I was going to take a sip.

"NO!" A voice shouted as the drink was slapped out of my hand. "That's like kissing!"

"You're too late Naruto. We already shared the drink" Shikamaru said. I didn't say anything as I was trying to control my anger. I looked at the spilt drink on the floor. I didn't even get to finish it.

"Na-ru-to" I growled.

"N-Naruto-kun, I w-would back away from her now" Hinata's worried voice said.

"Sakura-chan wouldn't hit me. I'm her favorite s-"Naruto flew around the mall due to my punch. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as Hinata sighed.

"You should join a fighting club or something" Hinata said with a smile.

"You're right Hinata! I should do that!" I smiled. "You're so smart!"

Hinata blushed as she rapidly shook her head. "N-No. I-I'm not as smart as you or p-pretty"

My mouth dropped. "Hinata, you are pretty. I'm jealous. You have these!" I said touching her breast then I touched mine. Compared to Hinata, I'm like a baseball while she's like coconuts!

The guys as the mall blushed at the scene as Shikamaru was trying to control his nosebleed.

"What happened to Naruto?" Tenten asked as she and Neji arrived to where we were.

"He pissed Sakura off" Shikamaru said. Neji noticed the little blood stain near Shikamaru's nose.

"What happened to you?" Neji asked.

"Don't worry about it" He mumbled.

"Were we all supposed to meet in front of the water fountain?" Temari asked as she arrived with Shino and a knocked out Naruto. I soon noticed that Ino, Sasuke, and Sai weren't back yet. I wonder where they went…

**XxXxXxX**

"Here we are!" Ino smiled as Sasuke and Sai paled. This was a girl's store…Victoria's Secret to be exact.

"Why are we here?" Sai asked. "I thought we all came to the mall so you can buy Sakura a bathing suit."

"We did." Ino said.

"This store only sells lingerie" Sasuke said.

"To the common costumers. But Ino Yamanaka is no common costumer. I know the manager here"

The three entered the store as a woman greeted them.

"Hello, welcome to Victoria's Secret…" The woman paused as she looked to see Sasuke and Sai. Her face turned red. "If you like see any bras and underwear, just ask me to try it on for you. This can be one of Victoria's Secrets. The name is Sofia by the way" She blinked at the boys as Ino rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me; I'm looking for Haku, the manager of this store. I'm Ino Yamanaka; I came here to inspect the workers and the store itself. And honestly, I am not happy with what I saw"

Sofia's eyes widened as she quickly bowed. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were coming. Let me get my boss!"

Ino cracked up as Sasuke smirked.

"That was smart" Sai said.

The three soon heard yelling in the back.

"INO YAMANAKA! DID YOU SAY INO YAMANKA WAS HERE?!" A woman's voice shouted. "Why were you flirting? I should have you fired."

"I'm sorry! I didn't know she was an inspector!"

"Inspector? Oh my…" A woman with long black hair and a red kimono came running up to the front. Sasuke and Sai had to agree. The woman was pretty.

"Ino!" Haku greeted.

"Haku!" Ino smiled as they hugged each other. "I'm here for the stuff"

Haku's eyes widened before smiling. "Oh yes, right away"

"Alright" Ino said. "Let's go"

The four went to the back of the store to see many bathing suits.

"These are nice, ma'am" Sai said.

Haku and Ino paused before laughing.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke asked.

"Haku isn't a girl! He's a man." Ino said. "This is one of Victoria's secrets"

"I may be a man physically, but my heart is 100% female!" Haku said drawing a heart in the air with his two fingers. "And I have a boyfriend who loves me"

Sasuke and Sai sweat dropped.

"So, what would you like to see Sakura in? A one piece or two piece?" Ino asked.

Sasuke and Sai blushed.

"Don't ask me!" Sasuke said as he tried to control his blush.

"A two piece would be nice on her" Sai said still blushing.

"See! Sai knows what he wants to see" Ino joked.

"A two piece it is" Haku said as he tied his hair up into a pony-tail. "Let me take you to the two-piece sections"

"What color would you guys like her to be in?" Ino asked.

"Blue" Sasuke said.

"Black" Sai said.

Sasuke and Sai glared at each other.

"She should wear blue. Besides you already chose to have her wear a two piece"

"Blue? Sakura would look nicer in black. Black would go with her pink hair and green eyes"

Ino sighed. Were these two as dense as Naruto? It was pretty obvious what was going on.

'I'm not letting Sakura where his color' the boys thought.

"Pink hair and green eyes, huh?" Haku asked as he looked around the racks. "A nice green bathing suit would look nice on her"

"I should have just come here by myself" Ino grumbled as she continued to watch the brothers glare at each other. "These idiots didn't help at all"

**XxXxXxX**

"You guys bought me a bathing suit?!" I said surprised as the guys and I were about to head off to our trip.

"It's a thank you present for putting up with our actions" Naruto said as he pulled me into a hug and rubbed our cheeks together.

"Stop hugged her every chance you get!" Sasuke said as he chopped Naruto on top of the head.

I smiled as I hugged each of them. "Thank you so much."

We all soon heard honking to see Kakashi and Shizune in a limo. "Let's go kids!" Kakashi called out.

"The pervert is coming?" Neji asked.

"It's okay" I said. "The more the merrier, right?"

"I guess…" Everyone said. I guess they didn't want to make me sad.

The drive took an hour as we arrived at a mansion. It was a smaller version than most of the mansions I have seen, but it was still a mansion no doubt.

"Are we going to visit someone before heading to the summer house?" I asked. Everyone looked at me weird.

"Sakura-chan, this is actually the summer house" Shizune smiled.

EH! This mansion was the summer house!

"Welcome!" The butlers, maids, chefs, gardeners, etc greeted us.

"Who is this young lady?" someone asked.

"This is the late Minato's lovely wife, Sakura Haruno" Kakashi introduced me.

"She's so beautiful" people began to say.

"I've never heard of the name Haruno. What's her status?"

"She's so young. She looks at least 17 if not 18. I wonder what foundation she uses"

I quickly ran into the mansion embarrassed.

"What the hell" I said as I walked up to the sons. "I thought we were going to stay at a summer house, not a mansion. Since you guys were all rich, I thought you'd live in a mansion like this, not the other way around."

"Well Minato always wanted us to live a normal life even though we all came from a rich family." Naruto said. I began to sweat drop. You called this normal, Minato?

I sighed. All this richness stuff is kind of hard to get use to. I soon went to find Shizune and Kakashi.

"Alright, so I got the guys to take me to a trip willingly. So this goal is over right?" I asked.

"Not exactly" Shizune said. "As Kakashi probably told you, there is two parts to this goal. The first part was to have the sons take you on vacation. The second part is to do all these while you are here"

Kakashi raised a scroll as it unrolled all the way to the floor. There were ten tasks on the paper.

I swear, these two were out to make my life here miserable. I took the scroll and read the first task.

"Get all the sons to eat together for a meal." I read. Sounded easy, right?

I went to the kitchen and asked the chefs to let me prepare dinner tonight. They began to protest but then I told them my reason. Honestly, they were touched.

"You are so kind Sakura-sama" The chefs said. I smiled as I told them they could help me prepare it as well.

I soon left the kitchen to find the others.

I saw Naruto and Sasuke arguing in the hallway.

"Hey guys" Naruto's angry face turned into a smiling one.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as he hugged me. Man, this guy really loved to hug people.

"Are you guys going to do anything around dinner?" I began to ask. "Because I'm plan-"

"I have stuff to do" Sasuke said as he walked away.

"Sorry Sakura-chan, but Sasuke and I have to do something tonight, but we'll try to make it to dinner. I promise" Naruto smiled at me before leaving me to go after Sasuke.

I soon looked for Shikamaru and found him with Neji. The two were sparring outside.

"Hey" I said.

They didn't hear me as they were fighting each other. Neji's hands were moving so fast while Shikamaru was being pushed back. Shikamaru soon went on offense as he began to attack Neji with kunai and shurikens. The fight made my Yankee blood boil but I had to control it. I walked away from that life a long time ago.

"Did you need something?" Shino asked. I didn't even notice he was here with the guys.

"I was wondering if you guys would stay for d-"

"I'm sorry Sakura-san, but I was planning to eat dinner really early because tonight I'm going to go bug hunting" Shino said.

I tried to smile at him. "It's okay, I'll just eat by myself tonight then" I soon walked away looking for Sai. Hopefully he might be able to stay tonight. I didn't bother asking Neji and Shikamaru. They were too into their fight.

I found Sai near the beach as he was drawing the ocean.

"You're really good" I said as Sai didn't say anything. He just continued to draw.

"Are you going to stay for dinner tonight?" I asked getting to the point. "Or are you busy tonight"

"I'm going to be drawing the whole day" Sai said. "This place is good to get ideas"

"I see" I said as I walked back to the mansion defeated.

After a couple of hours, I began to prepare dinner for myself. I told the chefs they could take the rest of the day off. I made a light dinner for myself as I began to eat silently in the large dining room. Here I was eating meals alone once again.

After dinner, I went to my room to brush my teeth, changed to my nightgown and slept early. After a few minutes, I woke up so I couldn't go back to sleep. So I made a phone call.

"Hey Ino" I greeted.

"Hey Sakura! How's the trip?" Ino asked.

"Not so good. The evil duo decided to give me tasks to do while I'm here with the guys. I have to get them to all show up and eat together for my first task. But they're all busy"

"I have a plan!" Ino said.

"What?"

"Give me 30 minutes and you'll see." Ino soon hung up on me. I looked at my borrowed blackberry as I sighed. 30 minutes later, there was a blackout. I heard this area had random storms but I didn't expect it happen here. I'm afraid of thunder. I heard something crash. My blood turn cold as my heart began to beat rapidly. Did someone break into the house?

"Naruto?" I shouted. No reply.

"Sasuke-kun?" Silence.

"Sai-kun?" no movement.

"Shika-kun?" Nothing.

"Shino-kun?" Quiet.

"Neji-kun" No answer.

I began to hyperventilate. Someone else was in the house.

I heard someone walking. Looking down the hallway, there was a shadowy figure as he turned to look at me. Behind him was a maid trying to stop him. He soon moved quickly towards me. With no weapons with me or protection, I did what most girls would do in this situation. I screamed as loud as I could.

**XxXxXxX**

Shino had gotten back from his bug hunting as he had caught many fireflies in a jar. He had heard a terrified scream coming from the mansion.

"_It's okay; I'll just eat by myself tonight then"_

His eyes widened. Sakura was in the mansion by himself. Was she in danger? He ran quickly to her.

**XxX**

Sai was drawing at the beach, when he heard the scream. It startled him as he messed up on his artwork. That scream sounded like Sakura. Leaving his art behind, he ran towards the mansion.

**XxX**

Shikamaru and Neji had gone to buy surfboards and other stuff for the beach tomorrow. While walking back, they saw a woman crying to the police.

"He came out of nowhere. He asked me if there was a summer house close by. He said he was looking for someone. I was guessing for his next victim. I was terrified, so I pointed to the Namikaze summer house. I'm so sorry. I hope no young woman is there alone at the house. He might do something to her." The woman cried.

Neji and Shikamaru panicked as they heard screaming coming from the mansion. Worried, they came rushing back to their summer house. If they waited for a bit, they would have noticed the woman and the cops smiling.

**XxX**

Sasuke and Naruto came back after buying fireworks. When they reached the house, they saw that the house had a blackout and the window near the front doors was smashed meaning someone had broken it.

"Sasuke-sama! Naruto-sama! It's horrible" A old maid cried as she ran out of the house.

"What happened here?" Naruto asked. Neji, Shikamaru, Shino, and Sai soon arrived before the maid explained what happened.

"T-There was a blackout!" The maid cried as she tried to control her tears. "I went to go fix it but before I did, someone came and broke into the mansion. But instead of killing me, he ran passed me as if he was looking for something. I then noticed he was heading towards Sakura-sama's area. I soon heard a bloody scream as I hurried after him to see him running towards Sakura-sama who was standing in the hallways petrified. He grabbed the poor girl and put a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her if I didn't let him leave with her. I-I'm so sorry"

"Where did they go?" Sasuke asked.

"I-I don't know!" The maid cried. "I'm so sorry masters"

"Go and search the area for clues" Shikamaru said as everyone ran into the house.

The old maid smirked as she removed her wig and costume.

"Hey Ino" Temari spoke in her microphone. "They're all looking for clues now"

"Good job" Ino said. "Hopefully Kakashi-sensei and Shizune-san did their part with the note"

Temari looked to see a woman and two cops come up to her.

"Shikamaru and Neji were really worried" Kankuro cracked up as he took off his cap and mustache. Gaara did the same.

"Serves them right for leaving Sakura by herself." Gaara said.

Tenten sighed as she took off her wig. "They're going to be mad when they find out what we did"

"Where's Sakura right now?" Temari asked.

"Lee, Kiba, and Chouji are with her at the cave near the ocean" Ino said.

"The Cave?" Gaara said.

"Yes the Cave" Ino said.

"Did you know there's a chance there might be high tide tonight?" Gaara said.

"There's a chance" Ino said. "Don't worry, I'd never put my best friend in any danger"

"Does she even know you're behind this and that it's not a fake" Hinata asked. She was with Ino.

Ino froze. "Oops" She said to the mic and Hinata. "I forgot to tell the guys to tell her about it when they get to the cave."

**XxX**

I glared at the three guys in front of me. They had the nerves to tie me up. One of them even tried to put a knife to my throat.

"Man, she's pissed" The tall lean one said.

"Are we even allowed to tell her who we are?" The fat one said.

"She didn't say anything about it" The third one said.

"ARF!" I was startled to see a puppy behind me and began to chew on my ropes. Where have I seen this dog before? That's when I got it.

"Kiba? Lee-san? Chouji?" I said.

Kiba took off his mask as he nervously laughed.

"Hey Sakura. This was all Ino's idea" Kiba said.

Lee and Chouji took off their masks as well. I picked up Akamaru to help me not yell at them.

"You guys freaking gave me a heart attack earlier!" I yelled at them.

"This was to help you and your sons get closer." Chouji said.

"Yes! This was all for your sake. Ino told us what happened and we all wanted to help you" Lee said.

"So, just play along for now" Kiba pleaded. "Just stay here, we'll be back to see what the others are up to"

"Others?" I asked.

"Do you remember the maid behind me?" Kiba asked. I nodded.

"That was Temari" He grinned. These guys were unbelievable.

"Well thank you guys for helping me" I smiled. Kiba and Lee blushed.

"Well we're going now" Chouji said as he began to snack on some chips.

"Yeah. We'll leave Akamaru with you" Kiba said. "Take care of her boy" Akamaru seemed to have understood what he said as he barked and nodded. Aw. They were like best friends.

I watched my friends leave as I sat down in the cool cave's ground.

**XxXxXxX**

Shino sighed as everyone was in Sakura's room. Everyone was arguing about the situation.

"How could you leave her alone?" Neji scolded at his younger brothers.

"You're one to talk" Sasuke snapped. "Who left her to go buy surfboards?"

"I was going to take her to go surfing, so I had to buy her one. She can't afford one!" Neji said. "What's your excuse?!"

"The dobe and I bought fireworks so she can play with them later during the trip!" Sasuke said.

"Sai chose his art works over Sakura-chan" Naruto glared at Sai.

"Well Shino left to go bug hunting" Sai said trying to defend himself.

"I wanted to catch fireflies to show Sakura-san later in the backyard" Shino said as he searched around Sakura's room until he saw a piece of paper. He soon called all the brothers over as they together read the paper.

**If you want me to return the young lady back unharmed, you must do the following tasks with her for the rest of your stay here at the summer house:**

**Eat dinner together.**

**Join a sand castle competition and win.**

**Teach Sakura how to surf**

**Have a BBQ.**

**Go scuba-diving.**

**Play a game with watermelons.**

**Collect sea-shells and rocks.**

**Go hiking.**

**Watch the fireworks together.**

**Go to the summer festival near the town.**

**If you promise to do all these tasks with her, go find her at the cave near the beach. If I find out you fail to do these tasks, I will come back and take her from you forever.**

**Love, the person who kidnapped your friend.**

Everyone sweat dropped at the note.

"This note seems like something Kakashi-sensei would write" Naruto said. The guys nodded their heads in agreement.

"You don't think he's the one who kidnapped her" Neji asked.

"No. Let's go to the cave. That's where the note said Sakura would be" Sasuke said.

"We have to hurry" Shikamaru said. "There's supposed to be high tie tonight"

"High tie! Sakura-chan we're coming" Naruto shouted as he sprinted out of the house as the others followed.

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I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was fun writing it. If you guys have watched Atashinchi no Danshi, then you know the gang that works at the café is being represented by Ino and the others. Lee is the owner of the café and Kiba is that new guy. Well don't forget to review and vote for the guy you want. If you want a certain someone to join the story, don't be afraid to tell me. Please and thank you.

-Kumiko.


	7. Sand Castles Gives Us A Trip To The Spa

Are you guys enjoying this story so far? I'm having fun writing it! School is going to start soon! I'm so excited. Get to start my senior year and see all my friends again. The School arc of this story will be based on some of my experience in my school year but most will be based on other school scenes I've read in mangas or watched in animes.

**Here's the poll status so far:**

**Sasuke: 7**

**Naruto: 3**

**Sai: 4**

**Neji: 4**

**Shikamaru: 3**

**Shino: 2**

**Gaara: 6**

**Kiba: 1**

**Lee: 2**

**Hikaru: 1**

**Kakashi: 1**

**A harem: 3**

**Sakura Kiss**

I frowned as Lee and the others didn't come back. At least I still had Akamaru with me. Something wet touched my bare feet. Kiba had grabbed me without me changing into normal clothes. So I was barefoot and in my nightgown. I looked down to see water from the ocean beneath my feet. How could the water reach all the way up here? Oh please don't tell me there's a high tide. I might as well just get out of the cave. As I got up I heard people heading towards my location.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto's voice came from outside the cave. My eyes widened. My sons came for me!

"Naruto? Is that you?" I called out.

"Are you alright Sakura-san?" Shino asked me.

I was happy. They all came to save me even thought I wasn't really in any trouble. I had to apologize to them for my friend's actions. I grabbed Akamaru as I began to walk out of the cave. Before I knew it, the cave began to rumble as the cave caved in with rocks. I froze. Why am I always the one with bad luck?!

"What the hell!" I heard Neji shout from the other side.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, we'll get you out of there in no time." Naruto tried to reassure me. It didn't work as I saw the water rise from the holes in the caves.

"Hurry" I shouted. My voice was shaky.

I could hear them trying to move the rocks. It was really dark in the cave I hate the dark and other stuff. The only light I saw was from way above in the roof of the cave. I was too short. Maybe I could climb and reach it.

"Akamaru, hold on to me okay?" I said as I put Akamaru on top of my shoulder. I steadied myself as I began to climb. I could see the water rise quickly.

"Damn, the waves keep coming!" Sasuke said.

"We have to get her out of there now!" Sai said. "The water is entering the cave from the other side somehow."

"I could hear the water entering the cave" Neji said.

"Sakura" Shikamaru called out. "Are you alright in there?"

"Yeah" I shouted. "I'm going to try to climb my way out of here. I see a way out, but its all the way on top"

"Sakura-chan, that's dangerous!" Naruto said. I ignored his warning.

"Sakura, wait for me" Sasuke said as he ran to get on top of the cave.

The water level rose quickly as I was finally able to make it up. I soon began to panic as I noticed that the hole was too small for me but Akamaru could go through. "Here you go Akamaru. Go and find Kiba and the others."

Akamaru was hesitant as I smiled. He didn't want to leave me alone. "I'll be fine. My sons are here. Go get help from the others"

Akamaru nodded as he left. I used my hands to try to punch my way out.

"Sakura" I heard Sasuke call out as he ran to where I was.

"Sasuke-kun" I cried.

"Watch out, I'm going to try to make the hole bigger" Sasuke said. I looked through the hole to see Sasuke had a pick axe in hand.

I let go of the rocks as I fell into the water. Sasuke began to hit the rocks as fast as he could.

"Sasuke-kun, hurry. The water is beginning to rise!" I said as the water was up to my chin.

"I know!" Sasuke shouted as he continued to try to break the rocks. He was succeeding but one of the rocks had hit me in the head as I fell into the darkness and deeper into the cold salty water.

"Sakura" Sasuke looked to see me sink deeper into the cave. "Damn it all to hell" Sasuke said as he dove into the water. He swam deeper until he was able to see a bit of pink in the dark waters. He grabbed me by the waist and swam up to the large hole he created. When he reached the top, he saw worried people surrounding them.

"Sakura!" Ino said as she covered her mouth. Everyone was about to surround me.

"Get out of the way" Gaara said as he got everyone to back away from me and Sasuke. "Give her some air"

"Who knows CPR?" Sasuke asked as he put me gently on the ground.

Gaara pushed Sasuke out of the way as he began to perform CPR on me. Sasuke glared at Gaara as he was on his knees. Gaara pinched the bridge of my nose as his lips met mine.

Everyone waited patiently as I was soon coughing out water.

"Sakura!" Everyone said my name.

I looked around to see myself out of the cave and surrounded by my friends. "What happened? I thought I drowned in the cave"

"Sasuke saved you from drowning" Tenten explained. "Then Gaara performed CPR on you"

"Thank you" I said as I got up and hugged Sasuke and Gaara.

"Hn" Sasuke said.

"Ah" Gaara replied as he hugged me back.

"I'm sorry we left you alone at the mansion" Naruto apologized. "We were just buying things to make sure you had a super fun trip since this is your first vacation"

Aw. They really were sweet. I fought the urge to pinch his cheeks.

"Are you hungry?" Shino asked.

"Kind of, why?" I asked.

"Why don't we all have dinner together" Shino said. I smiled.

"We're going to go now Sakura" Temari said. "Have fun"

I soon ran up to Gaara and gave him a peck on the cheeks. "Thank you for saving my life, I owe you one"

Gaara had turned red as you could barely see his tattoo anymore because of it. I found it funny.

Ino noticed how Sasuke had glared at Gaara.

"How about Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked. "He saved your life too"

"NO" Naruto said. "This is where I put my foot down! I wasn't able to stop Shikamaru and Sakura from kissing!" Everyone soon looked at me and Shikamaru.

Ino's eyes widened as she looked at me in a pissed off way. I paled as I saw the look she was giving me.

"How troublesome. We shared a drink" Shikamaru explained. "Then this idiot thinks we've kissed"

Ino seemed to have calm down before smiling at me. "I see"

I never realized how scary Ino could be…

I hugged all my friends and said goodbye as I left with my sons to have a very late dinner.

**XxXxXxX**

The next day, the guys and I went to the beach. Surprisingly there were a lot of people here. They had the most expensive cars and bathing suits. Of course, this was a rich area. Rich bastards.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as he held up a flyer in my face.

"Sand Castle Competition at 2pm. Winner gets free tickets to Akatsuki Spa." I read out loud. Akatsuki…why did that sound familiar? A spa sounded good though.

"Can we enter it?" I asked excited. I've never built a sand castle before.

"Of course" Naruto grinned. "Or else that psycho is going to come back" he mumbled the last part.

"Huh?" I asked as I tilted my head to the side. Naruto blushed a bit before smiling.

"It's nothing" Naruto said shaking his head as he looked at his watch. "Well it's 1:45. We have 15 more minutes until the competition starts." He then looked at my outfit and frowned. "Sakura-chan, you're not in your bathing suit!"

I looked down to see myself wearing a white summer dress. "Oh, let me change then" I grabbed my bag and headed for the bathroom. Naruto soon went to where everyone else was.

"Where'd Sakura go?" Sai asked. Everyone was under a couple umbrellas.

"She went to change into her bathing suit you and Sasuke chose for her" Naruto replied.

"I love the beach!" Kakashi said as he put his book down and stretched his arms. "We get to see Sakura in all her swimsuit glory!" Shizune sighed.

Everyone in the beach watched as Kakashi was sent flying into the ocean thanks to Sasuke's fist of fury. Sasuke sat back down as he noticed the guys were looking at him strange.

"What?" He asked. "He's a pervert"

"Sorry I took so long" I said as I ran to our spot in the sand. All the guys just kept on staring.

"What?" I asked. Did the bathing look horrible or something? Or maybe I had something stuck in my teeth from lunch. I watched as their faces resembled the color of my hair.

"Go back and changed to your regular clothes this instant, young lady!" Naruto shouted handing me my clothes. Was that blood on his hands?

"The bathing suit is lovely on you" Kakashi came up and put his arm around me soaking wet. I blushed. Hey, can you blame a girl? He's good looking!!

"T-Thanks" I stuttered. No! I was sounding like Hinata. Not good.

"Sakura-chan, we have to compete at the sand castle competition!" Naruto said pulling me away from a smiling Kakashi. The rest of the guys followed after the two of us.

The moment we arrived at the competition site, I was pushed away by a wave of fangirls!

"OMG! It's the Namikaze brothers!" A girl screamed. Girls were crying and shouting their love confessions. Wow.

"This is unbelievable" I said as I walked away from the group with my blue pail and white shovel. I guess I had to do this alone.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out from the sea of girls. His hands were waving frantically in the air.

"Who's Sakura?" One of the fangirls asked.

"She's my-"Naruto began to say.

"She's my girlfriend" Neji said. Naruto and the others glared at Neji as he smirked back.

The Neji fangirls cried their eyes out before looking at me.

"What's so special about her?" One girl said.

"I know what you mean. Look at her. She has pink hair for god sakes! She probably dyed it to get Neji-sama's attention" Another said. "She's so ugly"

I glared at the two talking smack as an evil aura appeared behind me.

"S-Sakura?" Shikamaru asked noticing my mood. He must have sneaked away from the girls.

"What!" I snapped.

"Calm down. They're just jealous of you. You're obviously beautiful and if people think different…" Shikamaru looked at their fan girls. "…they're obviously stupid and ugly"

A banshee like scream was heard from the mob.

"SHIKAMARU-SAMA CALLED US STUPID AND UGLY!" Sai covered my ears for me as he was probably used to all this screaming.

"Thanks" I said to him. Sai just smiled as he led me away from everyone.

"Let's make a sand castle" He pulled out his own pail and shovel as we began to make wet sand.

"I'll collect some shells and other things" Shino said as he walked around the beach.

"I don't know how you're able to handle those girls" I said trying to start a conversation with Sai.

"I'm just glad you're not like that, ugly. It would just make you uglier" I sighed. I was starting to get used to my nickname. Though it did piss me off, I fought the urge to knock up 30 feet in the air and who knows how many feet below sea level. This was my first time on vacation and I'm not going to let anything ruin it.

"Thanks, I guess" I said as I put wet sand into the pail and put it upside down. I pulled the pail up and grinned. It was perfect for my first time. Sai and I continued to make similar ones all over our area. We decided to make a very tall and long one if possible. Finally the others came to us.

"Aw, no fair! You guys started without us" Naruto cried.

"Don't worry. This still a lot more work to do" I told Naruto as his face brightened up. With Sai being an artist, we could probably win since he had a good idea how to build our castle. He had the guys work as he told me to find the prettiest shell in the beach. That meant I could work with Shino since he was collecting shells as well.

"Shino-kun" I called out as Shino was picking up some twigs.

"Did you need something Sakura-san?" Shino asked.

"I'm going to help you collect shells" I smiled.

Shino nodded as we looked all over the beach. I was finally able to find a shell. It was a pearl pink color. It was beautiful. It looked like something a mermaid princess would wear in her hair.

"Let's go back" Shino said. "We have to put the shells on the castle before judging time"

"Okie dokie!" I told Shino as I held his hand and led us back to our group. I didn't know if Shino was feeling awkward about me holding his hand out of nowhere. But he didn't say anything or pulled his hand back. Instead he tightened his grip around my hand.

"We're back!" I announced as we reached the group. My mouth dropped as I looked at the work the guys did. The castle was life size! It was super awesome!

"Do you like it?" Neji asked as he was wiping the wet sand from his hands with his shorts.

"I love it!" I grinned.

"Why are you holding hands with him?!" Naruto cried as he pointed at Shino's and my hands together. I rolled my eyes and punched him in the face.

"Shut up!" I said as I bonked Naruto on the head. I let go of Shino's hand as I took a step close to the sand castle. This could give Gaara a run for his money. He showed me a picture of one he made before.

"Go and take a look" Sasuke said as he led me inside. The sand castle looked even more awesome inside than outside. I could see Sai working on the detail of a throne in the middle of the room.

"Here's your throne Princess" Shikamaru said as I sat down.

"Hurry the judges are coming" Naruto said as he ran inside the castle. "I got the camera"

"And I'll take the picture" Shizune said as she popped out of nowhere! I swear she could be a very good ninja.

Shino had finished putting the decorations inside and out as he joined me and the others for the picture.

"1…2…3…" Shizune said as she took the picture.

"Did you find a shell?" Sai asked. I nodded as I showed Sai the shell I found.

"Good" He said as he brushed some of my hair away from my face. I blushed as I felt his hands move through my hair. "There"

Sai had somehow clipped the shell in my hair. "You will be the Princess of the castle. So go sit on the throne"

"You look beautiful Sakura-chan" Naruto grinned. "You look like a princess"

"And you guys are my princes" I joked.

"Ah" Sasuke said. "The judges are here"

I looked out to see three judges. It was two guys and a woman. The woman had a pale complexion but she was very beautiful. She had a piercing under her lower lip. Her blue hair was put up into a bun with an origami paper holding it in place. Next to her was a man with more piercings. His hair style was like Naruto's but he had orange hair. His contacts were crazy. It had a bunch of circles in them. The last one was even weirder. The guy was wearing a mask of all things.

"Hello" I greeted. "Welcome to the Namikaze Sand Castle. I'm Sakura Haruno"

The woman smiled at me as she stuck out her hand. Her hand looked so soft and delicate. I was afraid she'd turn into paper or something if I touched her hand. "I'm Konan. This is Pein" She pointed to the guy with the piercings. The last judge is Tobi"

"Nice to meet you all" I said. "This is Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Shikamaru, Neji, and Shino"

"Ah Kakashi-sensei" Tobi said. "Good to see you again"

"Wish I could say the same to you" Kakashi mumbled. Konan and Pein just smiled.

"They were old students of Kakashi's" Shizune explained to me.

"This is a very impressive sand castle you guys made" Konan said. "Seeing that Sai Sakamoto is within your group, it's no wonder this is an artwork"

"I really love the structure of this castle" Pein began to say. "But the decorations outside and inside really got to me"

"I love the throne!" Tobi said happily. "The Princess is really pretty, ne?" He began to walk up to me.

I blushed once again. Shino suddenly moved me behind him. "Do we win?" he asked.

"Of course" Konan said as she handed me 2 free tickets to the spa that was on the flyer.

"Only two?" Naruto asked.

"Yes two" Pein said. "Sakura-san, you must choose someone you are going to bring to the spa tomorrow"

Eh? Damn. How could I choose one without the others feeling bad?

"I don't mind not going" Shikamaru said. "It would be troublesome for you to decide out of all 6 of us."

So I guess Shikamaru pulled himself out. It made things a little easier.

"I don't want to go" Shino simply put it.

"I hate Akatsuki" Sasuke said.

That just left Sai, Naruto, and Neji.

"I still have paintings to do. So don't worry about me" Sai said.

I frowned. "But if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have won the contest"

I saw the corner of Sai's lips tug into a smirk. "Then you just have to repay me some other way. Maybe take me out one a date."

"Fine" I said.

"What!" Naruto growled. "You can't be serious! Have you forgotten! She's our mom. Even though she's the same age as us and like really pretty, we can't think of her like that!"

The boys were silent for a bit.

"I know that." Sai said breaking the silence. "I could never think of the Hag as someone I'd want to date. I was joking. She just needs to treat me out for all the work I put into this thing."

So that left Neji and Naruto.

"Do any of you two really want to go?" I asked looking at the two.

Naruto nodded. "Of course I want to go. I want to spend a day with you and get to know you more"

I smiled. "Neji-kun?"

"I really don't care" Neji answered.

I sighed. "I guess I'll be taking Naruto with me tomorrow."

"You said your name was Sakura Haruno, right?" Tobi asked me. I nodded. "Then you must be Sasori-sempai's sister!"

"Now that you mention it, I do see the resemblance" Pein said.

"I didn't know Sasori had a sister" Konan said.

"He doesn't" I growled. "I don't want to go anymore! No wonder Akatsuki sounded familiar! That's the organization that bastard joined! Neji, here, I'll give you my ticket"

"Please come" Konan asked me as she grabbed onto my hand. "I promise you, he won't be there tomorrow. Pein will give him the day off or give him a task to do during your appointment."

I was silent for a bit. I've never been to a spa before.

"To make it more interesting, you and bring another friend. But she has to be a girl" Konan said.

"Okay, I'll go" I sighed. That means I have to call Ino tonight.

**XxXxXxX**

True to her word, that bastard wasn't at the spa. Thank goodness. I wouldn't want Konan's floor covered in blood.

"Good morning Sakura" Konan greeted me as she hugged me. She looked behind me to see a tired Naruto and an excited Ino.

"A spa!" Ino said. Soon Pein came up to us to say hello.

"You know…" Pein began to say. "You're blond friend reminds me of someone" He said looking at Ino.

"Maybe a famous model?" Ino asked. I elbowed Ino in the gut.

Pein shook his head as he led us to a hallway with pictures. "These are our workers."

I saw my brother's picture as I frowned. Next to him was a man named Itachi. He looked just like Sasuke but older. Don't tell me he's…

Ino seemed to notice my confusion at the picture. "That's Sasuke-kun's older brother"

"Oh" was all I could say. I remembered Ino telling me that Sasuke and Itachi are in really bad terms.

I then saw Konan's, Pein's, and Tobi's pictures. Next to Tobi was a man who resembled a shark. He seemed cool though. His name was Kisame. Then there was a picture of a man with silver hair that was slicked back and pink eyes. His name was Hidan. Next to him was a picture of a guy who was really tanned. He had a bunch of stitches though. His name was Kakazu. Finally the last picture was of a guy with the same hairstyle as Ino except his bangs were on the other side of his head. His name was Deidara.

"AHH!" Ino yelled in shocked as her hands were on her cheeks.

"Wha-what happened!" Naruto asked as he woke up alert.

"That's my cousin!" Ino said surprised.

"Really?" Tobi asked as he came in.

"No wonder you reminded me of him" Pein said.

"What's with all the ruckus?" Ino's cousin came into the room with Itachi and the rest of the gang excluding Sasori. Omg, they were all good looking in person.

"Dei-kun!" Ino said as she hugged her cousin.

"What the Ino?" Deidara said surprised. His eyes soon locked into mine. "Who's your friends?"

Ino smirked. "This is Naruto Uzumaki and this is Sakura Haruno"

Deidara raised an eyebrow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" I said as I stuck out my hand.

Deidara smiled. He held on to my hand and kissed it Prince-like. "The pleasure's all mine. So you're Sakura Haruno. Sasori never told me that he had a beautiful sister, un."

I think I died and gone to heaven. I tried to control my blush. Naruto and Ino were glaring at Deidara. The two were probably really overprotective.

"Where is my brother?" I asked Konan.

"I sent him out buy some supplies. He won't be here for a while. So you don't have to worry. So I have you down for the Akatsuki spa package. It would be approximately four hours of pampering. You'll get 1 ½ hours of a full body massage with aromatherapy. Then foot reflexology with foot spa and wax dip. Then you'll receive a pedicure and manicure with paraffin wax dip.

"B-But I thought it was just a back massage!" I said surprised at the package given to me.

"Yeah, but I like you" Pein said. "And you are Sasori's little sister."

"Thank you" I bowed.

"She has good manners for someone her age" Itachi commented.

"Then Deidara's cousin gets an hour massage and facial. Then she gets a pedicure and manicure with paraffin wax dip along with Sakura." Pein said.

Ino must have noticed my worried expression. "Don't worry about it. I can get a massage any time I want at home. This is your first time being pampered. You deserve it especially since you have to take care of your 6 sons and Naruto being one of them"

Everyone gave me a look as I blushed in embarrassment.

"Exactly how old are you?" Kisame asked as he brought his face close to mine.

"I-I'm only 17!" I said as I blushed even more. Someone just dig a hole for me to crawl into.

"Then how do you have fucking 6 sons" Hidan asked. "Fuck, and here I thought I could have a fucking chance with you"

"Long and complicated story" I sighed feeling stressed.

"I call dibs on Sakura, un" Deidara said as he grabbed me and pulled me into a hug from behind.

"No fair!" Kisame said. "I wanted pinky"

"Hn." Itachi said. Translation: Damn.

"So much for earning money today" Kakazu grumbled.

"You can't call dibs Deidara-sempai" Tobi said. "Pein tells you who you get"

"But I don't want to give a massage to my own cousin or a guy, un." Deidara cringed.

"The feeling is mutual" Ino and Naruto said as they shuttered.

"Fine, Deidara, you get Sakura" Pein said as Deidara grinned.

"Lucky bastard" Hidan grumbled.

"Konan, you'll be treating Naruto and Tobi will be taking care of Ino." Pein said.

"Okay. Naruto will be receiving a hot stone massage with tiara infused coconut oil for an 1 ½ hour and foot massage"

"Better let him wash his own feet first" Ino warned. Konan paled.

Naruto, Ino, and I soon followed Pein as he showed us around the spa.

"In 15 minutes before your appointment, come to the waiting room and wait till either of us comes to get you"

Ino and I went to the woman lockers as we changed into our bathing suits and put on our robes.

We met Naruto when we headed to the Jacuzzi.

"Ahh" Naruto said as Ino and I entered the hot tub.

"I didn't know my cousin was a masseuse! I understand it's been a while since I've last seen him, but still…" Ino said. "…I thought he was heading towards the artistic career with your brother, Sakura"

"I could say the same about my brother" I sighed.

"Akatsuki does a lot of business. They're known worldwide" Naruto said as he put an arm around my shoulders.

We three of us stayed in the hot tub for a good ten minutes as we decided to go to the sauna. Finally we went to the waiting room as there were drinks for us and magazines. The peaceful music was making me sleepy.

After 15 minutes, Deidara came into the room. "Let's go Sakura, un"

I nodded as I said goodbye to Naruto and Ino.

"Don't do anything that would cause me to kick your ass" Ino warned her cousin.

"Yeah yeah" Deidara waved his hand saying he heard her.

Deidara took me to one of the rooms as he left the room for me to take off the robe and lay on the massage table on my stomach. I put the cloth up to below my shoulders. I heard a knock a minute later.

"Are you ready?" Deidara asked me as he got the stuff ready. "We're going to start off with your massage with aromatherapy."

I nodded as I waited for Deidara to start the session. I blushed a lot since I never had anyone touch me like this, especially a guy! Luckily my head was down so he couldn't see it.

"Sasori never told me that he had a sister, un. Why is that?" Deidara began to talk.

"I told him he doesn't deserve to be my brother after what he did" I said in a mad tone that probably surprised Deidara because he stopped moving his hands for a bit before continuing.

"What did he do to make you hate him so much, un?" Deidara asked.

I didn't know if I should tell him, but I felt like getting some things off my chest.

"Our parents got into an accident when I was really little. Sasori and I were really close when we were little. Then he became distant a couple years later and began to gamble. It soon became an addiction for him until he gambled into debt. We were soon kicked out of our own home and I couldn't go to school with my friends anymore. But my teachers at school were kind enough invite me to their house and home school me. I stayed at a family friend's house for a while. Then out of nowhere, Sasori left me to fend for myself. That bastard had the loan sharks chase after me because he put my name on the debt papers. So I've been living in Konoha Park for a couple years now." I finished my sad story.

"Ouch, un." Deidara said. He had finished the aromatherapy massage as he left me to change and get ready for my foot massage.

"Have you tried to talk to Sasori about it?" Deidara asked me. "Have you tried to hear his side of the story? I'm not trying to pick sides because Sasori is my best friend or anything, but I think it wouldn't be fair to both of you guys if you didn't hear the other's story."

That got me thinking. I never did get to hear Sasori's side of the story. But I was scared to. I was scared of getting hurt again. I never got to experience a family before since I was too little to remember what happened before the accident.

"You're right…" I said. Deidara looked at me and smiled.

"You're so cute Sakura!" Deidara said as he touched my cheek. His eyes locked on mine longer than necessary as I stared at him and blushed. I could see him leaning in a bit.

"I'm back" a voice said as he entered the foot spa area. I paled as my brother caught Deidara hitting on me.

"What do you think you're doing to Sakura?" Sasori asked as he dropped the grocery bags on his head.

"That hurt, un" Deidara said as he rubbed his head. Sasori soon turned to me as his cold eyes met my angry ones. Deidara gulped as he felt the room get colder. Things were not looking good between the siblings. Deidara quickly finished my foot massage as he laughed nervously.

"Hey Sasori. I realized I have some errands to do. So why don't you finish Sakura's treatment here with her pedicure and manicure with paraffin wax dip, un." Deidara quickly left the room.

"What are you doing here?" Sasori said as he got the supplies needed for my last treatment.

"I won the sand castle tournament yesterday and got free tickets to the spa." I said in a monotone voice.

"I see" Sasori said as he grabbed my feet and got it ready for the manicure. "I heard you're living with Minato Namikaze."

"I was." I said. "He died recently."

"How did you end up living with the richest guy in Konoha? I thought you were living in a tent at Konoha Park."

"I wonder how I ended up at Konoha Park!" I snapped at him.

"So you were able to pay the debt to the loan sharks?" Sasori asked.

"Yeah, Minato paid the entire debt with his own money. But now I'm in debt to him and have 6 sons"

"Interesting" He said.

"Why?" I began to ask. "Why did you leave me all alone when our parents left? I-I want to hear your side of the story"

Sasori's eyes widened as he watched me for a minute. He soon grabbed my cheeks and pinched it. He pulled my cheeks to the side and then up and down.

"Ow" I said as I swatted his hands away. "What the hell was that for?!"

"I wanted to see if you were really Sakura" He said.

"Of course I'm Sakura!" I glared at him.

"It's just that you never gave me a chance to explain myself" Sasori muttered.

"Well, start explaining before I change my mind" I demanded.

"Okay…" Sasori said as he began to tell me his story.

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**The next chapter will be about what happened between Sakura and Sasori. I couldn't help myself from bring Akatsuki into the story. How can you have a story without them? Well I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I added some Shino, Gaara, and Sai moments for those who like those guys with Sakura. The whole spa thing was based on my trip to the spa with my mom and aunts at Monte Carlo when I was in Vegas last week. I guess you know who's going to be added into the list of potential guy for Sakura. Please review and continue to vote! Thank you for reading.**

**-Kumiko**


	8. My New Goal

Theses are the names of the guys people voted for Sakura to be with in the end. And I must say, I'm surprised with the results.

**Here's the poll status so far:**

**Sasuke: 7**

**Naruto: 4**

**Sai: 5**

**Neji: 5**

**Shikamaru: 5**

**Shino: 3**

**Gaara: 7**

**Kiba: 1**

**Lee: 2**

**Hikaru: 1**

**Kakashi: 2**

**Deidara: 1**

**Itachi: 1**

**Hidan: 1**

**Pein: 1**

**Tobi: 1**

**Kakazu: 1**

**A harem: 6**

**Sakura Kiss**

"Sasori-niichan! Sasori-niichan!" Sakura said as her small little hands were trying to reach for her older brother while she was still in her mother's arms. Sasori was 11 years old as Sakura was 6.

"Sasori-kun, your father and I will be going to a very important meeting for the Haruno Company tomorrow so we have to go to the airport in an hour." Hana Haruno said as she kissed Sasori on the forehead and Sakura as well as she handed her daughter to Sasori. Hana had pink hair and the same green eyes as Sakura.

"No matter what happens, you must take care of your sister. Promise me that." Daisuke Haruno said as he ruffled his son's hair. Daisuke had the same hair color as Sasori and red eyes.

"Yes father" Sasori said. "Don't forget to call us when you arrive. You know how Sakura is when she doesn't receive a call from you as soon as you arrive. Last time you guys forgot to call, Sakura spent her whole day crying when she was in pre-school."

Hana and Daisuke chuckled. "See Daisuke-kun!" Hana said. "Sasori-kun is such a kind older brother. Sakura-chan is already developing a brother complex."

Sasori looked down in his arms to see a smiling Sakura as she tried to reach for her brother's face.

"I love Sasori-niichan!" Sakura smiled as she patted Sasori's face.

Sasori's eyes widened as he smiled. "I love you too Sakura-chan"

Their parents smiled as they left.

The next day, Sasori was feeding Sakura breakfast when the phone rang in the house.

"That must be mom and dad" Sasori said as Sakura smiled.

"I want to say hi" Sakura said. Sasori nodded as he answered the phone.

"Hello" Sasori said. Sakura stopped smiling when she saw the look on her brother's face. "That can't be!"

"S-Sasori-niichan?" Sakura called out. She watched as Sasori hung up the phone crying. Sasori cried as he held Sakura in his arms. Sakura was confused. Did mom or dad say something to make Sasori upset?

A couple minutes later, a family friend came up to them.

"Mrs. Kawasaki…" Sasori greeted in a dark tone. She was their mother's best friend.

"I heard what happened. Your parents' plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean. There were no survivors." Mrs. Kawasaki said as she held the siblings in her arms. "You two can stay with us. I've always thought of you two as my own children"

Sasori had declined the offered as he wanted to keep the promise he made to his dad. Sakura lived a painful life after that. She had to drop school because they couldn't afford wasting money. The teachers cared about Sakura and Sasori so much they decided to teach them on their own time. Soon Sasori began to do part time jobs to support both of them.

A couple years later when he was 16, he met Deidara who introduced him to the Akatsuki.

Sasori had told Deidara everything that happened to him in the past. He was his best friend.

"You want me to help you earn money? You can join my group then, un!" Deidara said as he grinned. "We're all about creating businesses to raise money for our organization called Akatsuki. Since you and I like art, we can make an art studio!"

"An art studio, huh?" Sasori said as he smiled. "I'd like that"

Their art studio was actually successful and Akatsuki earned a lot of money. Sasori still wanted more money to give to his sister. He left her with the house a couple years ago. He tried to avoid her knowing that she probably thought he abandoned her.

One day Sasori was walking down the street when he saw his old Principal from school. He seemed like he was in trouble.

"Minato-sensei" Sasori greeted.

"Sasori-kun, good thing you're here! I heard that your sister has been kidnapped" Minato said.

"What!" Sasori said pissed.

"She was kidnapped last night" Minato explained. "They were after you, but you weren't there so they got your sister instead. Your teacher Jiraiya was the one who informed me about it. He said something about an organization named Sound. Do you know anything about it?"

Sound. That was Akatsuki's business rival. Their members were full of Yakuza. Sasori informed Akatsuki who went on a wild hunt to find his sister. They were able to find her locked up in an isolated room. She was crying so bad. They kidnapped Sakura because they wanted money. Sasori had given them the money in return for his sister's life. That caused the Haruno family to go bankrupt. The whole event left Sakura traumatized. She was 11 at the time. Sasori had to leave his sister as he tried to find a way to earn money. He began to gamble his way out of debt and that caused him to go deeper into debt. He soon met someone who could help him with his situation.

**XxXxXxX**

Sasori stopped his story showing that he didn't want to say anything else. Sakura was silent as she tried to take in everything. All this time, Sasori was trying to find a way for her to live happily. Sakura began to cry as she tried to stop her tears.

"I-I'm sorry!" I cried as I hugged my brother.

"I'm sorry too" Sasori said as he held me until I was able to stop crying.

Deidara, Ino, and Naruto poked their heads through the doors and watched the touching scene.

"I'm glad they made up" Ino smiled.

"Yeah. You should have seen him a couple days ago. He was very upset saying that Sakura hated him and she had beaten him up to a pulp. I heard that Naruto here had to hold Sakura back as Itachi ran away with him, un" Deidara said.

"Sakura-chan is so scary" Naruto said as he shivered.

Deidara soon entered the room. "Well, sorry to break up this touching moment, but I have to finish Sakura's manicures, un"

Sasori nodded as he ruffled Sakura's hair. "I'll see you later then"

I forced a smile. "Yeah"

"I'm glad you guys made up, un" Deidara said as he finished with my pedicures and began to work on my fingers.

"I am too" I said. "All this time, I thought of my brother as bad guy"

"You know, he really cares about you. You're all he talks about when I'm with him. He's always wondering if you're okay, if you've eaten today, are you safe, etc, un."

"Thank" I told Deidara as I kissed him on the cheek.

"For what?" He asked as he touched his cheek.

"For helping me make up with my brother" I said smiling. "If you haven't talked me into it, I would have never known the truth and I would have continued to hate him"

"You really are cute" Deidara said as he ruffled my hair.

My treatment was over as I met Ino and Naruto in the front desk.

"Thank you" I said to Konan, Pein, Tobi, and Deidara.

"No problem. Feel free to come here anytime" Konan said.

"We do house-calls as well" Deidara said with a wink. I laughed.

"Stop hitting on my best friend/mom/sister" Ino, Naruto, and Sasori said.

"I was just joking, un" Deidara said. "Sheesh"

I waved goodbye to my new friends and Sasori as Ino's chauffeur drove Naruto and I back to the summer house. I felt so relaxed and happy.

When we both arrived home, the boys were in the living room as they noticed our presence.

"Welcome back Sakura-san" Shino greeted me.

"Hello, did you guys eat breakfast?" I asked.

"Ah" Sasuke said.

"How was the Spa?" Shikamaru asked.

"I feel better than ever! Believe it!" Naruto grinned.

"Mine was good too" I smiled.

"Well, I hope you're still up for the beach today because Shikamaru and I are going to teach you how to surf" Neji said as he handed me a surf board. It was red with pink and white flowers on the side.

"It's so cool!" I said excitedly. I couldn't wait to try surfing.

Neji and Shikamaru walked me to an isolated part of the beach and I was glad. I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of many people.

"I'll show you how it's done" Neji said. Shikamaru thought it was too troublesome for him to teach me and he'd just watch and help me just in case I fell.

Neji helped me onto my surfboard as I tried to balance on it. Sitting on the board was easy, but standing on it and trying to balance was hard. Shikamaru had to keep catching me. After a couple more tries, I was able to ride a few waves.

"Look!" I shouted as I pumped my fist in the air. "I'm surfing! I'm surfing!" I laughed.

Shikamaru let out a chuckle as Neji smiled. I sailed back to shore as I saw Shizune taking pictures of everyone.

I ran to everyone else who was sitting down watching me.

"Did you guys see me?!" I said as I flapped my wings.

"Yes! You were awesome Sakura-chan!" Naruto said. "Believe it" I grinned at him.

"You did a good job" Sasuke said.

Everyone soon paused and started at Sasuke.

"Whoa! Did Teme just compliment Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as his mouth dropped.

"Believe it, you loser" Sasuke said as he glared at his best friend.

"You did an excellent job" Shino said as he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Since it's still early, do you want to have a BBQ?" Naruto asked.

I nodded. BBQ sounded good. Everyone split up to get things ready for later as it just left me and Sasuke. Maybe this would give me a chance to get to know Sasuke more.

"Hey Sasuke-kun, do you want to go for a walk?" I asked.

"Hn" Sasuke said as he began to walk ahead of me. I guess that meant a yes. I ran up to him and walked by his side.

"Dude, check that girl out" A random dude said.

"The one with the pink hair? She's nice" His friend said. Sasuke growled as he quickly grabbed my hand and laced it with his.

"Sasuke-kun?" I questioned his actions.

"Guys are checking you out again. I have to protect you from perverts" Sasuke said. "What kind of son would i be if I didn't protect my mom?" I looked at him for a bit before smiling.

"That's my son!" I grinned as we continued our walk hand in hand.

"You know, I saw my brother yesterday when I went to the spa with Naruto." I said.

"Hn" Sasuke said. I could tell by the tone of his voice he was interested in what I had to say. He and I can relate with our problems with our brothers.

"With some advice of a friend, I talked to Sasori and asked him to tell me his side of everything. I never had my parents murdered but they did die. The way my brother acted after that, I made him as a bad guy when he was actually trying to find a way to help me. Maybe…maybe your brother is the same way."

"My brother killed my parents! That's why he left me after that!" Sasuke snapped. I tighten my grip on his hands.

"Have you ever talked to him about it? You'll never know if you don't try. You could miss an opportunity to fix your relationship with him. Just give it a try" I told Sasuke with a smile as we continued our walk. We ended up buying watermelons for the BBQ.

Neji was grilling the BBQ as Shino was helping me set up the picnic table outside. Sai and Shikamaru had gone to buy chips and drinks. Sasuke and Naruto were setting up a watermelon game. Sasuke and I ended up buying too much so Naruto and Sasuke had plenty to mess around with.

I guess Neji and Sasuke had buried Naruto in the sand with his head only sticking out. Sasuke was blindfold as he was trying to find the watermelon on the ground with the stick. Naruto's mouth was covered with a thick cloth. So whatever he said was muffled.

I heard hear muffled sounds of pain as Sasuke thought he found the watermelon. I sighed as I had to leave Shino to stop Sasuke's 'innocent attacks'.

"Sasuke-kun, you're not hitting a watermelon" I told Sasuke as I took the bat from him. Sasuke smirked as he removed his blindfold.

"I know" He said. My mouth dropped. I looked over to Naruto. Let's censor his face for this one, if this story ever became an anime.

I shook my head at the two. "What am I going to do with you two?"

"Hn" Sasuke said.

"S-Sasuke…" Naruto coughed.

"What do you want dobe?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto weakly raised his right hand as he gave Sasuke the finger. I sighed once again. I give up on these two.

I walked up to Neji as he was grilling steak. Mhmm, it smelled good!

"Please refrain from drooling. It's not lady like" Neji said as he poked me on the forehead.

"That's only because it smells really good. I wonder if it tastes good too" I said as I took a sniff. Neji cut a small piece of a cooked steak and coated it with steak sauce.

"Here" Neji said as he put the steak up to my mouth.

"AH" I said as I opened wide. He put the piece in my mouth as I bit down on it. Oh my god, I think I went to steak heaven! This was absolutely delicious.

"It's really good" I said. I noticed Neji looking at my face-well more at my mouth to be exact. Neji began to lower his head as I blushed. Don't tell me he's going to kiss me! Neji had tilted his head to the side as he licked the corner of my mouth.

"You had a steak sauce there" He smirked at me. I had turned the same color as my hair as I touched where he licked me. I felt deadly glares behind me. I turned around to see Sasuke and Naruto glaring at Neji who smirked at them.

"What do you think you're doing to Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he pulled me away from Neji.

"She had steak sauce on her face" Neji said.

"You could have just given her a tissue." Sasuke said.

"Do I sense jealously because I'm closer to Sakura-san than you?" Neji asked.

Sasuke glared at him. "Hn"

"Well sorry to burst your bubble but Sakura-chan loves me more" Naruto said as he hugged me.

I pushed myself out of Naruto's hug immediately. "I love each of you equally as my sons."

"But we all know that secretly Sakura-chan has a favorite!" Naruto said. Naruto was starting to get annoying as he, Sasuke, and Neji looked at me. Shino was still setting up the table.

"Fine," I said. "I do have a favorite"

"Who?" Sasuke asked.

I smirked. "Shino-kun" I said.

Shino had looked up when he heard his name being said. I looked at him and smiled.

"NO!" Naruto cried.

"Shut up" I said as Sasuke and I bonked him in the head.

"Pathetic" Neji said.

Shikamaru and Sai soon came back as I looked at the backyard. It was beautiful. There were four poles making a square as there were little fireflies in a jar on top of the poles. It was cute and we were saving energy! We had a long table in the center of it with a pastel yellow table cloth on it. We had nine plates and utensils, just in case Kakashi and Shizune decided to come and eat. And they did come by with desserts. Yum!

"Let's play a game" Naruto said. "This time Teme is going to be buried"

"Are you still mad that I mistook you for a watermelon?" Sasuke smirked.

"You knew that was me, you bastard!" Naruto cried. "Sakura-chan, Sasuke is so evil" Naruto cried to me.

"Don't cry to her" Sasuke said as he hit Naruto in the head.

"Naruto is going to lose brain cells if you keep hitting his head like that" Shikamaru said as he took a sip of his soda.

"Naruto had a brain?" Sai asked. "I thought he was brainless and dickless"

Naruto glared at Sai and gave him the finger.

"I do have a brain. How do you think I passed Math Analysis?" Naruto asked as he had a proud smile.

"Because my cousin let you cheat off her" Neji said.

"Not all the time" Naruto defended himself.

"Yeah, because then you'd copy off from someone else." Shino said.

"Do you want me to tutor you?" I asked Naruto. I didn't want my sons to fall behind in school or cheat to get good grades.

"You'd tutor me? Really? Sure Sakura-chan" Naruto said as he put his arms around me into another hug. This guy loved to hug.

"I've been wondering…" Shikamaru began to say. "…what classes are you taking this coming fall?"

"Hm…" I said as I took a moment to remember what classes I had.

"I'm taking AP Statistics, AP Government and Economics, English 4, a free period, Physiology, and Art." I said in order of periods.

"Physiology?" Neji questioned me.

"I finished most of my classes ahead of time and I took Physics over the summer, so i decided to take Physiology" I explained.

"Wow! You're as smart as Shikamaru and Teme" Naruto said. "They're taking almost the same classes!"

"I have AP Statistics and AP Government and Economics with you" Shikamaru said.

"I have the first three with you." Sasuke said.

"I have Art and English 4 with you" Sai said as he soon walked away to work on his drawings.

"I have Physiology with you, Sakura-chan" Naruto grinned.

"I have the same classes with you" Shino said.

"Not fair" Naruto pouted.

"At least you guys get to have classes with her. I only get to see her in the mornings and when we get back from school." Neji said.

"That's right!" I said. "Neji-kun is a freshman in college now!"

"Don't worry" Neji said. "I'll make sure I visit from time to time."

"Don't even bother coming back to the school" Sasuke said.

"What was that?" Neji growled. Their faces were close up as you could see the sparks between them. Sasuke went to send a punch at Neji as he dodged it. "I thought I put someone worthy as the student body president? Was I wrong? I should have chosen Sai." He taunted. This seemed to anger Sasuke more.

"These two are always at it. They're rivals in everything" Naruto muttered.

"Same goes to you and Sasuke as well" Shino said.

"Yeah, but Sasuke and I will always be best friends" Naruto said.

"Sai and Sasuke are the worst though" Shikamaru muttered.

"How so?" I asked. Neji and Sasuke were forgotten.

"They didn't like each other the first day they met. Everyone always compared the both of them. You know saying that they looked alike and stuff like that. Sai was an art prodigy but Sasuke was a prodigy in academics. It soon caused a rivalry between them to see who was better. Their rivalry worsened when Neji had to decide who would be the next student President between Sasuke and Sai before he graduated. He was the President before Sasuke." Naruto said.

I looked over to see Sai was drawing by himself under a Sakura tree. I didn't know if he could hear our conversation or not.

"Does everyone have a problem with each other?" I asked as I moved some of my hair behind my ear.

"Not really. We all have fights with each other here and there, but it's nothing serious like Sai's and Neji's with Sasuke" Shino answered.

"Shino is the only one who doesn't get into fights" Shikamaru said.

I smiled at Shino as I patted him on the back. "Why can't you guys be like Shino? It would ease me from a headache."

I soon turned my attention to Neji and Sasuke to see them still fighting. Neji was going for a punch as Sasuke moved in for a kick. I sighed. My blood ran wildly begging me to fight as well, but I knew better. I moved quickly as I caught Neji's punch with ease. I soon moved my leg so my kick would meet Sasuke's. The two were surprised as well as everyone else.

"If you two don't stop fighting, I'm going to ground you two for a month." I growled.

"You can't ground us!" Sasuke said as he stepped away from me and Neji. Neji brought his hand back to his side.

I glared at Sasuke as I pinched him by the ear, hard. "I can and I will! If you have forgotten Sa-su-ke-kun, I'm your mother now, so respect me." I growled as I let go of his ear. Naruto tried to stop himself from laughing out loud. Neji smirked as he stared at Sasuke's red ear.

"Serves you right" Neji sneered. His eyes soon widened when he felt tugging on his hair.

"Don't think I forgot about you Neji-kun" I growled as I pulled on his hair. He glared at me as he pulled on my hair. My eyes widened. I didn't expect that.

"Let go" I said.

"You grabbed my hair first" He answered back.

"Stop being immature" I said. "If you get into one more fight before school starts, I'm going to send you to the hospital!"

Neji smirked at me. "I'd like to see you try"

I smirked back. "Watch yourself"

"Neji, you shouldn't have done that" Naruto warned. "You've never seen her fight when she's pissed. It makes you and Sasuke look like wusses!"

Neji turned to look at me as he sweat dropped. I was back to my bubbly self.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto ran up to me. "Let's play suikawari **(breaking watermelons with a stick game)**!"

"Sure" I said. I felt Naruto blindfold me with a handkerchief as Shikamaru gave me a stick.

"Go for it Sakura-san" Shino rooted for me. I moved the stick around trying to find the watermelon. I soon hit something hard as I smiled. Gotcha!

"S-Sakura, don-"Shikamaru warned me too late as I smashed whatever I hit. I took off the handkerchief as I saw what I hit. It was a flowerpot.

I scratched the side of my forehead in embarrassment. "Whoops!" I looked to see that the watermelon was next to Sai.

Sai looked at the watermelon before he broke it into pieces with his hand.

"What's the point of this game if you don't hit it with the stick and blindfolded?!" Naruto said as he yelled at Sai who was eatting a piece.

"Did you even wash your hands?!" Naruto shouted.

"Shut up dickless" Sai said. "Just get another watermelon"

We all continued our game taking turns. In the end, we enjoyed the delicious watermelons.

**XxXxXxX**

The next morning, Naruto and Shino decided that we should go scuba-diving. I was scared at first, but Naruto and Shikamaru promised to hold my hand the whole time we were under the water. It made me feel better as I agreed to do it.

Being underwater reminded me of the Little Mermaid. I loved watching that movie when I was younger. I could see many different types of fish and everything seemed to colorful. I was so excited; I wouldn't be surprised if I saw a talking lobster or a flounder.

Neji and Sai were in front of me as Sasuke and Shino were behind. I would never imagine doing this when I was younger. It was a really fun experience. After an hour of swimming in the ocean, we all relaxed at the mansion. After lunch, everyone decided to go for a hike…well some of us wanted to.

"I don't want to go" Sasuke said.

"Me neither, it's too troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"You're just lazy and want to cloud-watch instead" Naruto said pointing a finger at him.

I slapped Naruto's hand down. "It's rude to point at people"

"Sorry" Naruto said cheeky as he grinned at me. "Don't worry Sakura-chan. I'll go with you. Besides, if we don't do it, that guy is going to kidnap her! We never got to find out who did it." Naruto said.

My eyes widened. I forgot to apologize and tell them that it was my friends who plotted this. But seeing this would help finish my second motherly goal, I kept my mouth shut.

"I'll go as well. A hike is good once in a while" Neji said as he put an arm around my shoulder. Sasuke glared at the arm resting on my shoulders as he stood up.

"We'll leave at 5" Sasuke said as he walked away.

I frowned. "What's wrong with that guy? He's always brooding"

"That's how he is towards everyone except Naruto and surprisingly you" Neji said.

I sighed as I looked at the clock. It was a quarter till 5. I packed my bag with stuff that would be needed for the hike like bottles of water, snacks, first aid kit, and the fireworks Sasuke and Naruto bought.

"Do you want me to carry your bag, Sakura-san?" Shino asked me. Shino, he was so polite and kind. He really was beginning to be my favorite out of the six.

"No, it's fine. This is a mother's job after all" I grinned at him. "Shannaro!" I began to walk out of the house as my sons followed after me.

"Naruto, come here" I said as he ran up to me. "I trust you with the map." I showed him the point where I wanted to be at the end of the trip.

"You can count on me, mom" Naruto said as he concentrated on the map. "This way"

Sasuke came up to me. "Are you sure it's wise to let Naruto be responsible of the map. He's an idiot"

I bonked Sasuke in the head. "Don't be mean. He's your brother. Have faith in him."

"Hn. Don't say I didn't warn you!" Sasuke said as he continued to walk behind me.

After an hour walk, we still haven't reached out destination. According to Shikamaru's and my calculations, we were supposed to be there 45 minutes ago. We stopped near a cliff. This wasn't the destination i wanted to go to.

"Hey, Naruto! Can I see that map?" I asked tiredly. I had everyone stop as I gave out snacks and water.

Naruto looked at me. "The map?"

"Yes, the map I gave you before we went on our hike." I said.

"Oh, funny you should ask…" Naruto began to say. He gulped when I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Naruto, you didn't" I said in a pissed off tone.

"I told you so" Sasuke said.

"You're not helping" I yelled at Sasuke. I soon turned my attention back at Naruto. "Give me a good reason not to push you off this god-damn cliff!"

"B-Because, you're a beatufiuk kind mother who would never think of hurting her sons and this spot is better!" Naruto said. I looked passed him to see the beautiful view of the sun setting. The cliff was high up as you can see the whole villa.

"Wow!" I said as the sky turned dark.

"T-This would be a good time to have our fireworks as well." Naruto said. All I could say was good save Naruto. I felt all my anger disappear as I smiled at Naruto.

"Okay" I grinned as I opened a box of firecrackers. "I'm so excited. I never played with fireworks before!" The ones I had in my hands were the ones you would throw on the ground and it would make popping sounds. I grabbed a bunch and threw them on the ground. It made a lot of popping noises as I smiled.

"Some can be dangerous" Neji said as he opened a box of bottle sticks. He handed some to everyone.

"How does this one work?" I asked Neji as he turned the box around to read the instructions.

Sai looked at the stick in his hand as he pointed it at Sasuke.

"These are the types that fly. Put it in a bottle. Point the top away from you and light the end of the fuse" Neji told me the instructions. "Do not hold it in your hands or point it at people and buildings"

I followed Neji's instructions.

"This bastard is pointing it at me" Sasuke said as he glared at Sai.

Sai smirked at Sasuke. "I'm sure you can dodge this one."

I rolled my eyes at the two as I walked up to a flat rock i could sit on.

"This is for you" Shikamaru came up to me with another type of fireworks that I could hold until it stopped.

"Oh wow" I said as I sat down on a rock. Shikamaru sat down next to me. I watched as the fireworks in front of me changed into many different colors. "It's really pretty."

I watched as Naruto and Sai were setting up a big firecracker as Neji, Sasuke, and Shino were lighting up other ones. "Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. I'm glad"

"You know, we all never came together like this and had fun. It's…"

"Troublesome?" I tried to finish his sentence for him. He chuckled as he shook his head.

"I was going to say refreshing. You know, you probably didn't know it because you didn't know us that long, but everyone seems to be calmer around each other. Before we all couldn't stand to be in the same room with each other. We weren't like that before, but with the problems we had in the past, it caused us to change and react differently to people." Shikamaru said. The firecracker I was holding was finished.

I felt bad. I was going to say something until a loud pop was heard. I covered my ear surprised. The firecracker Naruto and Sai lit up flew towards the sky as it exploded into a beautiful green light in the sky. The other firecrackers went off as well.

Shikamaru…I wanted to know more about him and his past. I wanted to help him overcome it. I wanted to help everyone the same way. I held Shikamaru's hand and gave it a squeeze as he looked down at me. I gave him a smile as he smiled back and looked back at the sky. My eyes gazed at him for a little bit before looking back up at the fireworks in the sky.

That night as I watched the sky light up in different colors, I made a new goal. I wanted to make my sons happier than they ever been. They deserved that for all the bad things that happened in their past.

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**Aw. Isn't Sakura such a good kind-hearted person? I put some DeiSaku, SasuSaku, NejiSaku and ShikaSaku in this chapter. So you know what that means, NaruSaku, ShinoSaku, and SaiSaku and probably other couple moments will be in the next chapter. I hope no one got confused with Sasori's story. Pretty much he left Sakura to protect her and stuff. Anyways, I hope everyone is enjoying this story. PLEASE VOTE AND REVIEW!**

**-Kumiko**


	9. Things Are Starting To Heat Up

**EVERYONE! I"M ENDING THE VOTING HERE! Looking at the poll status...it seems that the readers want SasuSakuGaa or NejiSakuShika, or a harem. Hm...I already know who Sakura is going to end up with but im surprised who the readers wish Sakura ended up with. **

**Sasuke: 10**

**Naruto: 4**

**Sai: 5**

**Neji: 7**

**Shikamaru: 7**

**Shino: 4**

**Gaara: 9**

**Kiba: 1**

**Lee: 2**

**Hikaru: 1**

**Kakashi: 2**

**Deidara: 1**

**Itachi: 1**

**Hidan: 1**

**Pein: 1**

**Tobi: 1**

**Kakazu: 1**

**A harem: 7**

**Sakura Kiss**

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he shook me. My eyes snapped opened as I glared at Naruto. I wasn't really a morning person. Ino called this side Inner Sakura.

"**What do you want, punk?"** Inner Sakura said. I swear, she has a mind of her own. Even I can't control her at times.

"S-Sakura-chan?" Naruto's eyes widened surprised.

"**You woke me up at 6! What the hell do you want?"**

Naruto felt like he was going to piss himself. "I-I was wondering if you wanted to buy a yukata. I wanted to buy it for you"

Inner Sakura soon melted as Naruto could hear a pop sound.

I giggled. "Okay"

Naruto looked at me weird but didn't say anything.

"Alright! Let's go before the others wake up" Naruto said.

I sighed as I shooed him out of the room to change. That Naruto, he always acts before thinking.

Naruto and I walked around the town as we walked into a store. We spent almost an hour trying to find the perfect yukata for me. I remember wearing one when I was little, but that was a long time ago.

"Mom, how about this?" Naruto asked. **(A/N: Blah, I'm too lazy to describe it. Here's the link for it. The outfits this is what the whole festival is going to be like with those people there.** **.com/art/Naruto-Festival-36181309)**

"It's cute!" I said as Naruto and I went to buy it. I had to invite Ino and the girls to go to the festival as well.

"Hey Naruto, do you mind if I invite Ino and the others?" I asked.

"Are you going to inviting Gaara?" He asked me. I raised my eyebrow.

"Do you have a problem with Gaara?" I asked. Naruto immediately shook his head.

"No, well…we used to back in middle school. We got into a huge fight that caused us both to go to the hospital. We went to different middle schools and he tried to jump Sasuke. So I protected him by fighting Gaara. Ever since then, he's been holding a grudge on me and Sasuke I think. I just don't want us to fight and ruining our trip." Naruto said.

I wasn't shocked that Gaara tried to jump Sasuke. I knew Gaara when I was younger because I was really close to his sister. Gaara had this aura that shouted dangerous. It was because of me and probably Naruto beating him up that he changed for the better.

I smiled. "Gaara is not like that anymore. It was after Gaara was sent to the hospital. I was good friends with his sister at the time. I was mad that he gotten into a fight and I let him have it. Ever since that day, he's always been protecting me and stuff. He's one of my close guy friends"

"I was actually surprised to see Gaara so protective of you when you drowned that day. When I last saw him, everything about him screamed dangerous! Well, I was like that too, but I changed."

"What caused you to change?" I asked. I remembered Kiba telling me that Naruto used to act just like Sasuke.

"I met Minato" Naruto grinned. I told Naruto that I was only going to invite the girls.

Naruto and I walked back to the summer house hand in hand. It was still early as I bet everyone was still asleep. Naruto and I decided to help the chefs prepare breakfast. Since this was our last day at the summer home, I let the chefs and everyone else leave. I wanted them to enjoy the festival with their families.

The smell of pancakes woke up the others as Shino was the first to come downstairs. He was wearing basketball shorts and a white beater top.

"Good morning" I greeted.

"Chocolate Chip pancakes?" Shino said as he saw the stack of pancakes.

"Do you want some?" I asked.

Shino nodded. "They're my favorite"

I smiled as I served him.

Sasuke and Shikamaru soon came down just wearing boxers. Sasuke was rubbing the tiredness away from his eyes. Shikamaru's hair was down. My face began to heat up as I immediately put my head inside the fridge close by. This wasn't right. I'm supposed to be their mother not some fan-girl! Arg. Hopefully Neji and Sai was dressed up properly.

I must have jinxed myself because Neji came into the kitchen. He dared to come into the kitchen with a long shirt that was shorter than it should have been. It was tilted to the right showing his bare shoulder. His usual perfect hair was messy. His whole appearance screamed SEXY!

"Good morning" I tried to say.

"Hn" Sasuke said as he sat down next to Naruto.

"Good morning" Shikamaru replied as he sat down next to Shino. Neji continued to walk up to me as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Pinky…"Neji said into my hair."You're really cute." My blushed increased.

"Hey!" Naruto said. "What are you doing to our mom, you pervert!"

"Sorry" Shino said as he tried to remove Neji from me. "Neji…is weird in the morning. Its worse when there's a beautiful girl in the room." My blush darkened.

"Ah, well I have to go check up on Sai-kun since he isn't down yet" I said my excuse as I ran out of the kitchen. I cannot handle this zoo! If Ino was here, she would be going on and on about how I'm such a lucky girl to have such a handsome harem for sons. If only she knew I couldn't do anything because I'm their freaking mother. Oh, God hates me so.

I walked down the hallways as I walked to Sai's room. I knocked first.

"Sai-kun?" I opened the door to see he was sleeping on his bed. He had papers and art supplies all over the ground. I saw a drawing pad on the floor as I picked it up. Flipping through the pages, I saw beautiful art works. They were dated from when Sai was an 8th grader. As it slowly went up to the dates when Sai was a freshman, his art works seemed to have been getting sloppy. As I went through more, the works were half done or just scribbles. What happened to him that caused him to be like this in his art. I thought he was an art prodigy.

"Sai-kun…" I said as I was on the bed with him. I was on my knees as I was shaking him. "Sai-kun, it's time from breakfast!" I felt him grab my hand as he tugged me towards him on the bed. He had his arms around my waist as his head was on the crook of my neck. I could feel his warm breath on my skin. He began to kiss me from my neck up.

I was stunned. It was like his kisses paralyzed me. All I had was my voice.

"S-Sai-kun, s-stop! This is unapprop-"

My eyes widened as our lips met. I was scared about what could happen next. Sai was freaking doing sexual things to me while sleeping!

"Raiko" Sai muttered before stopping his actions.

Raiko. Who was Raiko? Was she the reason why Sai stopped his art? With Sai still sleeping, I managed to roll him off me. What happened in this room will stay in this room. As I fixed my appearance, Sai chose to wake up.

"Ugly?" Sai said as he stretched. "What are you doing in my room?"

"I'm your mother. I have the right to be in your room. Anyways, I was wondering why you weren't in the kitchen yet. I got worried." I told him. Smooth, I told myself. I was a good liar. Well most of it was true, but Sai didn't have to know what was going on in the kitchen or what just occurred on his bed.

"You were worried about me?" Sai asked. I nodded as I held up an art work.

"These are really good." I told him changing the subject. "It looks unfinished though"

Sai rolled his eyes. "That's because it is unfinished. Not only are you ugly, you're stupid."

I stuck my tongue at him as he just stared at me. I soon remembered what just happened a few minutes ago. I could feel my cheeks warm up.

"Are you sick?" Sai asked as he touched my forehead.

I slapped his hand away embarrassed. It caused him to give me a weird look. "I'm fine. Come on, I made pancakes! Let's go eat" I said as we walked to the kitchen. I walked a bit faster than him.

I looked to see Shino and Shikamaru were putting their dishes away in the sink. Naruto was talking to Sasuke with pancakes still in his mouth. Sasuke had a look of disgust on his face. It was funny to see. Neji was quietly eating his pancakes as he was reading the newspaper. He seemed to have turned back to normal.

Sai grabbed a plate as he sat down next to Neji. I sighed as I rested my head on the cool counter. I noticed the dishes in the sink. I was about to get up until I felt someone massaging my shoulders. It was Shino.

"Allow us to do the chores today, Sakura-san" Shino said. "You seem too tired and out of it to do anything today. I heard from Sai that you were getting sick."

I smiled. Shino was so kind to me. "I wouldn't be tired if someone didn't wake me up early to buy a Yukata." I said looking at Naruto. He grinned at me before talking to Sasuke again. "I'm not sick by the way. Thanks Shino. You really are becoming my favorite son"

The moment those words left my mouth, I felt everyone glare at Shino.

"I'll do the dishes!" Naruto said as he grabbed everyone's plate. Luckily Sai and Neji had finished theirs.

"How troublesome. Since the maids are out, I'll help clean the house" Shikamaru said.

"Ah" Sasuke said as he followed Shikamaru.

"I guess I'll mow the lawn" Neji said as he left the kitchen.

"I'll water the plants" Sai said.

I smiled. How cute! They were jealous. That just left me and Shino alone in the kitchen.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked as I thought about the name Raiko.

"What is it Sakura-san?" Shino asked. I could see the look of concern on his face even though his glasses were blocking his eyes.

"Who's Raiko?" I asked. Shino was silent for a bit.

"Where did you hear that name from?" Shino asked. He sounded upset by that name.

"Sai said the name when I was…trying to wake him up" I said still slightly embarrassed about what happened in the room. Whoever she was, she must have been really important to Sai for him to do…_**that**_…when he sleeps.

"She was Sai's first and only girlfriend. They've been going out since 7th grade. They were said to be the perfect couple. We really liked her. We all got close to her. We thought of her as a sister and even though some of us didn't get along with Sai, we approved of their relationship." Shino took a breath as he looked at me. I nodded my head for him to continue.

"When we thought nothing was going to go wrong, it did. As you know, Sai is an art prodigy. Raiko…she betrayed him. She betrayed us. She was sending Sai's artworks to rivals and if she couldn't, she'd destroy them. She sold out Sai's ideas for her own greedy needs. We really trusted her. It was because of her that Sai really got into art. And it was because of her that Sai began to give up on art and stopped trusting people. Even though he was considered an art prodigy at a young age, he wasn't really interested until Raiko told him that she was a big fan of his work. That's how they started talking. The only people Sai trusted were Minato and Naruto. He trusted the rest of us a bit but it was nothing compared to the trust he had for the two. Shikamaru thinks it's because the two really look alike."

"Wow" I said. "Poor Sai-kun." Sai had it bad.

"That's not even the worse part." Shino said.

"What could get worse than that?" I asked confused.

"Catching the love of your life having an affair with your brother" Shino said.

My eyes widened as I covered my mouth. "Who would do such a thing to their own brother?"

Shino shrugged. "Don't ask me, ask Sasuke"

My eyes widened more if possible as my mouth dropped. Sasuke was sleeping with Sai's girlfriend? How low could you go?!

"That just made their rivalry worse" Naruto said. I jumped at his voice. I had forgotten that Naruto was still in the kitchen. He was looking at the floor.

"Do you know why Sasuke-kun would so such a thing?" I asked Naruto.

"Teme never told me why he did that. But he was the one who caught Raiko stealing Sai's art work." Naruto said. "He exposed her to us. He told Sai that he was interested in Raiko as well and that he should just forget her. Everyone thought that Raiko would get with Sasuke afterwards, but instead she never showed up to school after Sasuke caught her. It was said that she said transferred schools"

"So she's the reason Sai-kun stopped his art works?" I asked.

Naruto nodded. "Pretty much. I swear, the next time I see her; I'm going to kick her ass. I don't care if she's a girl"

I sighed as the door bell rang. I opened the door to see my friends. I hugged each of them.

"Shino-kun! N-Naruto-kun" Hinata said as she went up to greet the boys. I was surprised she didn't faint in front of Naruto.

"Where's that lazy butt" Ino said as she looked around.

"He's cleaning the house with Sasuke-kun" I answered. Everyone's eyes widened when I said it.

"Shikamaru is…cleaning?" Temari asked surprised.

"Yeah?" I said not sure what to say anymore.

"That guy never cleans!" Ino said. "That's so unlike him!"

"Tell me about it" Temari said. I soon noticed her looking at the boys in the room. Temari came up to me. "Is he single?" she whispered.

"Who Naruto?" I whispered back.

Temari gave me the 'are you serious' look. "No, the one next to him."

"Shino-kun?" I asked. I watched as Temari's cheeks were tinted with a light pink as she nodded. I grinned.

"He's single" I said as she smiled back at me. I soon had a plan in my head. I could set my friends up with my sons. Okay, that sounded wrong, but it's not! We're pretty much all the same age. It's pretty obvious that Hinata is in love with Naruto. Ino has the hots for Shikamaru. Temari just showed she liked Shino. But how about Tenten? Who would be good for her? I thought about my group of friends. Lee or Kankuro would be a good match for her. But with my sons, Neji was the best choice. He was close friends with Tenten but so was Lee. Hm…

As Shino and Naruto decided to give the girls a tour around the place, I grabbed Tenten into my room as I sat her down on my bed.

"What's wrong Sakura?" Tenten asked me.

"Do you like anyone?" I asked.

Tenten blushed as she shook her head.

"No, what makes you say that?" Tenten said as she continued to shake her head.

"Is it Kankuro?" I heard rumors that the two were talking before. Tenten looked at me weirdly.

"He's talking to someone already" Tenten said.

I raised an eyebrow. Why wasn't I informed of this?

"Neji-kun?" I said next. Tenten was unfazed.

"That guy is like a brother to me" Tenten said.

That just left me with one guess. "Lee-san?"

Tenten's blushed darkened. "You like LEE?!"

Tenten immediately covered my mouth with her hand.

"Shut up! Do you want everyone to find out?!" Tenten said. I shook my head as she released her hand from my mouth.

"What's with this all of a sudden?" Tenten said as she calmed down. I told her my plan as she smiled.

"You've done so much for us Sakura. It's okay. Let us help you for a change. Do you like anyone?" Tenten asked. I could always tell her everything. She was like an older sister to me besides Temari.

"N-No. Not really" I said.

She raised a perfect eye brow at me then smiled. "So you're attracted to someone?!"

"Let's say more than one guy…" I said as I covered my face with my pillow.

Tenten squealed as she grinned. "Spill everything!"

"There's nothing really to spill" I said. "I'm just attracted to people I can't really do anything with"

Tenten's eyes widened. "You mean…" She paused as she looked around the room. "…your sons?"

I blushed as I put my head down. "Well the remaining sons that you aren't trying to hook your best friends with are Sasuke, Sai, and Neji-kun."

"There's Deidara as well" Ino said as Temari and Hinata entered the room behind her.

I was shocked. "How much did you hear?"

Ino grinned. "The part where you said that you're attracted to more than one guy"

"Isn't Deidara you're cousin?" Hinata asked.

Ino nodded. "You should have seen them flirting when we went to the spa."

"Ino!" I said as I threw a pillow at her. We soon giggled.

"What about my brother Gaara?" Temari said. "You guys would be cute together"

"That's true" Ino said as she got into her thinking pose. "But then Kiba seems interested in her as well."

"H-How about a harem?" The innocent Hinata suggested.

Everyone's mouth dropped.

"H-Hinata!" Tenten and Temari said shocked. My mouth dropped as my left eye began to twitch. Ino cracked up as she hugged Hinata.

"God, I love corrupting you!" Ino said.

"Forget it" I said as I got up, red in the face. "Let's get ready for the carnival"

**XxXxXxX**

"Hey Naruto…" Sai said as he walked up to his brother.

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

"Did I do something to Sakura and not remember it?" Sai asked.

"Why do you ask?" Naruto responded with a question.

"She's been acting weird around me now." Sai said.

"Isn't she always acting weird?" Shikamaru said as he and Sasuke came back from cleaning the summer home. Shikamaru felt the glares Sasuke and Sai were giving each other.

"Why would you care if she's acting weird around you?" Sasuke asked.

"She's our mother. I have the right to care about her" Sai said. "Unlike someone who doesn't care about his family's feelings at all"

"Cut it out" Neji said as he walked up to the fighting brothers. "We have guests! Pinky's friends to be exact"

"Where are they?" Sai asked.

"They're in Sakura-san's room" Shino said. He soon looked at Sai and Sasuke. "Are they fighting again?"

Naruto nodded. "Sai is wondering why Sakura-chan is acting weird around him"

"It must have been what happened when she went to your room this morning" Shino said. Sai had a confused look on his face.

"She just woke me up" Sai said.

"You must have done something before you woke up. She asked me about…" Shino paused looking at the rest of his brothers. "…she asked me about….Raiko"

Sai's eyes widened as his hands turned into fists. "Don't. Ever. Say. That. Name. Around. Me. Again." Sai growled. Each word was dripping with hatred.

The guys heard footsteps as they saw me and the girls looking at everyone confused. They noticed that Tenten and Temari weren't with us.

"You girls changed already?!" Naruto said. "You look really cute Sakura-chan" He had put an arm around my waist.

"Stop flirting with her" Sasuke said as he pulled Naruto away from me and towards Hinata.

Neji's eyes narrowed as he saw his cousin blushing around Naruto. I sighed as I grabbed his hand.

"Let them be. Naruto and Hinata belong together. I know even you can see that." I said.

"Hn" Neji said. "Where's Tenten?"

"Temari is trying to get her to come out" I laughed.

"Tenten, come out now" Ino said. "It's not like anyone 'special' is here to see you"

"Shut up Barbie" Tenten said as Temari shoved Tenten out of my room.

"If only Lee was here to see her" Neji said.

"You see it too?" I asked.

"They're my best friends. Of course I'd know" Neji said.

**XxXxXxX**

Everyone was having fun at the festival. Everyone began to pair off. Ino pulled Shikamaru towards the mirror house. Naruto and Hinata went to the food court to see if they had ramen around here. Typical Naruto! Temari asked Shino to accompany her to the rides. Tenten and Neji went with them. That left with me with the emotionally constipated Sai and the walking ice cube Sasuke.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked the two as we linked arms.

Sasuke shrugged as Sai just gave me another fake smile. I sighed. I let go of their arms as I walked a bit ahead of them. As I took one more step, a blur of black and red pulled me into a hug.

"Sakura-chan" A voice said. I looked to see Tobi hugging me.

"Tobi" I said. I was losing oxygen.

"Let her go you idiot" Deidara said as he hit Tobi on his head. "She's turning blue, un" Tobi let me go as I gasped for air.

"Tobi is sorry Deidara-sempai" Tobi said.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"The gang and I went to have some fun. Tobi said he saw a girl with pink hair. I followed him to see if it was the cute girl I was thinking of, un." Deidara said as he gave me a peck on the cheek.

I stared dumbly at Deidara as I raised my left hand to my cheek and blushed. Sasuke and Sai were not amused. Sai immediately held my hand. Sasuke was glaring daggers at Deidara.

A ball was thrown at Deidara. "What did I say about hitting on my sister?" Sasori said as he greeted me. I saw the rest of the group behind him.

"Hello!" I greeted.

"Hey, it's pinky from the Spa" Hidan said. I rolled my eyes. I noticed that Itachi was looking at Sasuke with sad eyes. Sasuke couldn't see it since he was still glaring at Deidara.

"She's not 18 Deidara. Don't be a pedophile!" Kisame joked. He soon patted my back. "Nice to see you again, Pinky"

I rolled my eyes once again. Can't people come up with better names than Pinky or Shorty?

"Fucking Deidara! He always tries to hit on her every fucking chance he gets" Hidan grumbled.

I frowned. "I don't like you cussing with every sentence that comes out of your mouth. This is a family park!"

Hidan smirked. "I know I'd like to hear you saying my name when I ente-"

"Hidan, shut up" Konan said as she slapped him on the back of his head. I swear what's wrong with all these guys! "Can't you see that she has a boyfriend? You're worse than Deidara!"

"Boyfriend?" Sasori growled as he glared at Sai and Sasuke. I realized that Sai was still holding my hand. Uh oh.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I said as I blushed.

"I'm not her boyfriend" Sai denied.

"These are two of the six of my sons. Sai and Sasuke" I introduced. "The others are somewhere around the park"

"I thought Sasuke-kun is Itachi-sempai's brother?" Tobi said as he clutched his head. "Does that mean Sakura-chan is Itachi-sempai's mother as well?"

"My brother was adopted into another family" Itachi said with no feelings. "Sakura-san is their mother through her marriage with Minato."

I looked at Itachi in awe. "How do you know all this?"

He smirked. "Kakashi told me."

After a couple more minutes talking with Akatsuki, I left with Sai and Sasuke. It was getting dark as the fireworks were about to start. The three of us finally caught up with the others. Everyone watched as one firecracker went up in the air followed by three others. Kakashi and Shizune had showed up as they were taking picture of everyone.

I looked all my family and friends' faces. They were all happy. This was a summer I would never forget. School was starting in a couple days. If summer was this crazy, I couldn't wait to see what Konoha Academy would be like.

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**Eh. I don't really like this chapter. I was thinking of putting Lee and the others in the story, but I got lazy and there would be too much people to worry about. But I love Akatsuki, so I had to put them in this chapter. It makes the chapter better…especially with Deidara in it. *grins***

**Anyways, the School arc is about to start in a chapter or two. Please wait til my next update. I'm actually stopping the voting. I just wanted to see who the readers wanted Sakura to end up with so far. People wanted Sasuke, Gaara, or a harem. But just because I'm stopping the voting, it doesn't mean that you guys don't have to stop telling me who you want Sakura to be with. I actually have someone in mind that might surprise others or it may not. You just have to find out later on as the story develops. Thank you for reading this chapter! Please review everyone.**

**-Kumiko**


	10. I've Been Appointed To Be WHAT!

**AHHH! School started Monday! *Cries* I already have tests! Senior Year is too evil for me. Anyways, I really wanted to update this chapter as soon as I can, because I know everyone is waiting for the this chapter! So here we go! But due to my summer to school change, I'm not as creative as usual.**

**Disclaimer: Uniforms and school belongs to the owner of Vampire Knight, Code Geass, and Ouran High School. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Hikaru, his mom, and Sakura's parents belongs to me.**

**Sakura Kiss**

We had just come back from our vacation two days ago. Today was the school orientation. I was going to meet the Principal and get my uniform! Naruto promised to show me around the school today.

My mouth dropped a bit as I saw the school. It was beautiful! **(A/N: Think of Ouran High School.)**

"Do you like it Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked me as I nodded.

I bet your wondering why Sasuke-kun and the others aren't with us. Well it all started this morning during breakfast…

**XxXxX**

"_Today is Orientation!" I said excitedly. I was ironing the clothes in the corner of the kitchen since the wash room was in the next room._

"_I'm going to show you around the school, Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned. "You're going to love it for sure!"_

"_I'll go later when they need me" Sasuke said as he drank his orange juice. _

_I was going to ask why, but then I just remembered. My sons were the student council at school. Sasuke was the president of school. Sai and Shikamaru were the vice presidents .Shino was treasurer and Naruto was the secretary. Neji used to be the president when he was still in high school but gave his position away to Sasuke. Since Sasuke was president, he had to give out speeches._

"_Scare of the fan girls?" Naruto teased._

"_Hn" Sasuke said._

"_With all those girls after you, I'm surprised you're not interested in any of them, Sasuke-kun" I said with a smile._

_Sai snorted. "That's because he's not interested in girls at all. He's gay."_

_Naruto started to laugh out loud as Sasuke glared at the two. Neji, Shikamaru, and Shino let out a chuckle._

"_Gay? I'm not the one obsessed with penises" Sasuke said. _

"_Well, at least I had a girlfriend, Sasu-gay" Sai said._

"_Stop fighting!" I said as I was waving my hands with the iron around in the air. Steam was everywhere._

"_Will you put that thing down?!" Sasuke said turning his anger at me._

"_You're going to hurt someone" Neji said as he quickly dodged the iron._

"_Oops, sorry about that!" I said as I laughed nervously._

"_Well, I'll stay in the house until I have to go my orientation." Neji said. "It won't be until two in the afternoon though and I might have to bring a…parent" He seemed nervous saying the last part as he looked at me._

"_I'll go with you Neji-kun!" I said. "Just wait until I finish my orientation."_

"_It's not necessary. I can just go with Tenten and Lee" Neji said._

"_If you say so" I pouted. I wanted to see what Neji's college looked like._

"_Since I'm volleyball captain, I have to help bring people in to join. So I'm leaving early" Shino said as he finished his breakfast and left. I soon looked at Shikamaru and Sai._

"_We have to help organize things since we're vice president" They said together. _

"_That just leaves you and me, Naruto" I said as he smiled at me._

**XxXxX**

And that's how I was left with Naruto by my side.

As we entered the school, Naruto said he needed to talk to the Principal about me.

"Sakura-chan" A voice said. I looked to see Shizune smiling at me. Oh, yeah. She was the school nurse.

"You have finished two of your twenty motherly goals" She said. "Now it's time for your third one" She handed me a scroll as I read it out loud.

"You must find a way to be in a group with your sons" I said. "You mean like a club?"

Shizune nodded. It seemed easy enough. Naruto soon called me into the Principal's office as Shizune followed behind me.

"So you must be the Sakura Haruno these three have been telling me about. The only person to pass our entrance exam with a perfect score" A voice said from behind the big chair. I looked around the room to see Naruto, Shizune, Kakashi, and a guy with long white hair. The chair turned around to reveal a young woman with that was really gifted in the…chest area. I mentally frowned. Why were other girls so lucky? She was really beautiful. She seemed to be in her late 20's if not 30's.

"I'm Tsunade Senju" Tsunade introduced herself as she stuck her hand out.

"Nice to meet you" I said as I shook her hand.

"Here comes her death grip" the white haired guy said as Kakashi nodded while reading his perverted book. Tsunade's eyes widened as she noticed how strong my grip was. It was as strong as hers if not stronger.

"I like you, kid. You seem pretty tough, despite you appearance" Tsunade commented. I stopped myself from smirking. I wondered how surprised everyone would be when they find out about my past.

"Aren't you also the head doctor at Konoha hospital?" I asked. I really wanted to be a doctor and she was my role model.

"Why, yes I am. Some people don't recognize me unless I tell them" Tsunade smiled.

"I want to be a doctor as well" I smiled. "You're my idol"

"Well, if I have time, I can take you in as my apprentice" Tsunade said.

My eyes widened. Me? Be Tsunade's apprentice? What a dream come true!

"I'd love that" I said.

"Kakashi and Shizune had informed me of your situation. I know you're legally the mother of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sai Sakamoto, Shikamaru Nara, Neji Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame. You're secret is safe with us, rest assure." Tsunade said. "Now we must give you your uniform. Jiraiya"

"Here you go, beautiful" Jiraiya said as he handed me my uniform.

"Stop hitting on Sakura-chan, pervert!" Naruto shouted. I ignored the two as I looked at my uniform. It was so cute!** (A/N: Her uniform is the Night Classes uniform from Vampire Knight. I'm too lazy to be creative right now)**

"Thank you so much!" I said as I hugged Tsunade. She was surprised at first before laughing.

"You're very welcome" She said. Naruto and I soon left the room as Tsunade smiled.

"That girl is an interesting one. I can see why Minato chose her" Jiraiya said.

"She reminds me of myself when I was her age" Tsunade chuckled.

"Let's just hope she doesn't have the same temper and strength as you did" Jiraiya joked.

**XxXxXxX**

"Hey Naruto, have you ever considered joining a sport?" I asked him as we were walking down the halls. Everything was so clean and sparkly. People were walking around and saying hi to everyone. I felt out of place.

"Well, I'm already in basketball and the student council" Naruto said. "Why?"

"My third mother goal" I sighed. "I have to find a way for all of us to be together, like in a club or something."

"Well, you'll think of something Sakura-chan. You're smart" Naruto said. If I had paid more attention to him, I would have seen the smirk he had on his face as we continued to hold hands down the hallways.

"Naruto-sama!" voices screamed as we walked out of the main building.

"Ew! Who's the pink-haired bitch next to him?"

"Don't tell me Naruto-kun is taken!"

I frowned. Did they want me to rearrange their faces?

"Just ignore them, Sakura-chan" Naruto said as he continued to lead me to the large theater.

"Forehead-girl!" Ino called out. She was way up in front with the others.

"Ino-pig!" I greeted as Naruto left to go on stage with his brothers. Ino had saved me a seat next to Hinata who was on my right.

"Sakura" Gaara said as he quickly went to the seat on my left. Ino was on the other side of Gaara.

"Hey Gaara" I said to him. Chouji was sitting next to Ino as Kiba was on Hinata's right.

Everyone was talking to each other until the lights in the room dimmed. The lights on stage turned on as Tsunade was on stage with Jiraiya and other teachers behind her. Some were familiar faces like Shizune, Kakashi, and Iruka. Iruka was my teacher back in elementary school before I had to quit school for a while.

"Hello everyone! This is a brand new school year! I hoped everyone enjoyed their summer. As you know, school is starting tomorrow. I'd tell everyone the rules, but I know you'd want to hear the student council tell you that." Tsunade said. Girls were screaming at the name of Student Council. I saw my sons walk on stage as the screaming got louder.

"GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY!!" Naruto greeted. Girls from the Naruto Fan Club screamed as hearts were appearing in their eyes. To make it worse, they were in the two rows behind me. As Shikamaru would say… 'How troublesome'

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata said as she blushed. I smiled. I wonder when Naruto was going to realize Hinata's feelings.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru said. "I'll leave the speech to you guys"

"SHIKAMARU-SAMA!" Girls screamed.

"Hmph!" I heard Ino say as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. She slouched down in her seat and pouted. Hinata and I quietly giggled. She was jealous.

"Everything is troublesome for you" Shino said.

"SHINO-KUN! MARRY ME!"

OMG! I was going to have a freaking headache. Gaara shook a bottle of Advil in front of me. I smiled and took it from him.

"Here's a bottle of water" Kiba said handing me one. Our hands brushed as he blushed. Gaara was not amused.

"Hello everyone. It's good to see you guys again" Sai said as he smiled.

I think I heard girls falling out of their seats sighing happily.

"Chouji continued to eat his chips. "It's like this every year. It was worse when Neji was here"

"Hn…" Sasuke said.

All the girls behind our row sat at the end of their seats as they watched Sasuke with large eyes.

"What's wrong with them?" I asked Hinata.

"T-They're waiting for Sasuke's catchphrase"

I raised an eyebrow. He had a catchphrase?

"How annoying" Girls practically jumped in the air screaming. The guys in the audience shook their heads as they glared at the girls next to them. Some were pissed off that their girlfriends were screaming their heads off.

Sasuke began to talk about the rules and other stuff. Talk about boring. I was resting my head on Hinata's shoulders and was about to fall asleep until Naruto grabbed the microphone from Sasuke.

"WE HAVE SPECIAL NEWS!" Naruto screamed. The speakers screeched as everyone covered their ears.

"Idiot" Sasuke muttered. Naruto ignored him as I found Naruto smirking at me from the stage.

"We will be having a brand new member joining the Student Council!" Naruto said.

Everyone began to look at each other talking. I looked on stage to see everyone except, Naruto, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the evil duo were confused. So the rest of the student council members didn't know what Naruto was talking about.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto smirked as he jumped off stage and landed in front of me. Everyone was in awe as he quickly grabbed my hand and lifted me up from my seat.

"What the…" I said as he jumped back with me in tow until we reached the stage. I blushed noticing all the eyes on me. Who knew Naruto could do stunts like this?

"Everyone, this is Sakura Haruno! I have appointed her to the post of body guard for the Student Council. She will also be in charge of general affairs in the student council" Naruto said. "Give a round of applause to our newest member! She is also the famous student that passed our entrance exam with a perfect score!"

I soon pushed Naruto away. Everyone gasped at my action. I had just pushed a member of the student council.

"Who said I wanted to be part of the student council?" I asked.

Everyone's eyes widened and were silent until…

"Haruno-san! You're so cool and spicy!" Boys in the crowd cheered.

"Please be a member!" People in the crowd shouted.

"We need a girl in the student council as well" Girls shouted their opinions.

"Please Sakura-chan!" Naruto said giving me the puppy eye look as he clapped his hands together. "This is a way to help you get the third goal over and done with"

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Fine"

I soon left the theater to walk around as Naruto and the others continued to talk. I was soon stopped by three girls. I recognized them as the girls that I saw when I went to that one restaurant with Sai.

I greeted them kindly as Karin scoffed.

"Don't think just because you're part of the student council now, we're going to bow to you" Karin said.

"Never planned you to" I said stressed. I just wanted to go home.

"You better leave Sasuke-kun alone…" Ami said as she dared to flick me on my forehead. "…Billboard brows!"

My eyes widened. That's why Ami looked familiar. She used to bully me a lot back in elementary.

"So you remember me" Ami smirked.

"Leave her alone" a voice said as that person as they lifted me over their shoulder like I was some sort of sack.

"Who the hell do you think you are interfering on our talk?" Kasumi asked as she turned to look at the stranger. Her eyes widened as she was afraid.

"You wouldn't want me telling the student council that you've been picking on their new member, do you?" The stranger said.

Karin frowned. "I-I'm not scared of you! L-Let's go ladies!"

Ami growled as the trio left. The guy began to carry me around the school yards. I looked up to see that my savior was no other than…

"Hikaru-kun!" I said happily.

"Girls are so mean" Hikaru said as he put me down.

"Thanks for helping me" I said smiling. "I could have handled them"

"Sure you can. One against three" Hikaru said as we continued to head out of the school. "But I don't want you to cause trouble before school actually starts"

"Where are you going after this?" I asked.

"Going home. I'm still sleepy" Hikaru said as he yawned.

"Want to walk me to the Konoha University?" I asked. "It's on the way to your house"

He grinned. "I love to walk a lovely lady to her destination, but I took my motorcycle here. Are you okay with that?"

I told him I was as we headed towards his bike in the parking lot. On the way out of school, I saw Shino and informed him that I was leaving with Hikaru to go to Neji's school.

We rode on Hikaru's motorcycle as we dropped my stuff at the house before heading to Neji's school. When we got there, I was amazed. If I thought our school was all big and fancy, Neji's school beat ours by a lot.

"This is amazing!" I said. I got off his bike and thanked him for the ride as he left. When I entered the school, I saw Gaara walking in front of me.

"Gaara-kun!" I said as I called out for him. Gaara nodded at him in acknowledgement as I ran up to him. As we walked around the school with our index and middle fingers entwined with one another, we were able to spot Lee quicker than anyone else.

"HOW YOUTHFUL!" Lee shouted. "This place is absolutely youthful! Gai-sensei would have been so proud of this school. Isn't that right Neji? Tenten?"

Neji just nodded his head as Tenten blushed.

"Neji-kun! Tenten! Lee-san" I called out and waved to them.

Tenten's eyes widened when she saw me. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed that Gaara and my hands together. Neji glared at Gaara as Lee…well how can you describe Lee's reaction?

"NO! This is absolutely not youthful! You Gaara have beaten me in getting Sakura-san. I shall run around our college's track 200 times!!" Lee shouted as tears were streaming down his cheeks.

Tenten sighed as she pulled Lee away. "Just give up on her and move on"

Tenten looked back at me as I winked at her. She blushed before walking away with Lee. That just left me with Gaara and Neji.

"Gaara! Sakura!" Kankuro called out as he walked up to us as Temari followed.

"Hey Hyuuga!" Temari greeted. "Hello Sakura-chan. Little brother"

"What are you two doing here?" Kankuro asked.

"We wanted to see your orientation" I smiled.

"Well it's over. Sorry dear. We have to go. It was good to see you today" Temari said as she gave me a hug. "I'll see you next time"

I hugged the trio goodbye as I went up to Neji.

"How was orientation? Do you have classes with everyone?" I asked.

"Tenten and Lee are in all my classes. I have Temari for home room and Kankuro and Kabuto for my last class" Neji said. He said Kabuto's name with hatred.

"Did you eat yet?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Let's go home and I'll prepare something for all of us!" I smiled as I handed out my hand.

"Let's hold hands" I said as he didn't say anything. I put my hand back to my side. I frowned as we continued to walk out of the school. I guess he still isn't that comfortable with me yet. I was going to say something when I felt Neji lace his right hand with my left. I was surprised as I looked up at Neji. He was blushing. I smiled as we continued our walk hand in hand.

**XxXxXxX**

The next day, I woke up especially early despite Inner Sakura yelling at me. After putting on my white skirt, I buttoned up my black long sleeve. I covered it up with my white jacket with a black line pattern all over it. Lastly I tied my red ribbon as I smiled. I was ready to go.

I quickly went down to make breakfast for my boys. Neji had to go to school early so I made him his breakfast first.

"Have a good day at school, Neji-kun!" I said as I fixed up his uniform. **(A/N: Neji's and the others' school uniform is just like Code Geass')** "Make sure you pay attention in class. Eat lunch! Tell the others I said 'Hi' for me. Then when you come home, tell Mommy all about it!" I grinned.

He rolled his eyes at me. "What am I, a seven year old?"

I stuck my tongue at him. I walked him out to the front. His school was only a five minute walk from our house, so there was no use for him to take a car.

"Hey Pinky" Neji said.

"What?" I said. I was getting used to my nicknames.

"You…take care at school too." Neji said before walking to school. My eyes widened as I watched him go. Neji said something really nice to me. I felt really happy as I walked back into the house. I was so happy that I didn't realize there was someone walking down the stairs as we bumped into each other. We both fell to the ground as I broke his fall.

"Oh…my head" I said. I looked to see Shikamaru's face really close to me. I could feel his hot breath on my lips. We continued to stare at each other as I thought he was moving closer towards me. Soon-

"TEME! YOU TAKE TOO LONG!" Our eyes widened as we both moved away from each other red in the face. Naruto's yelling had us shaken up.

"How troublesome" I heard Shikamaru whisper as he went to the kitchen.

I still stayed on the floor as I thought about what just happened. One thought came to me. Ino! Oh man, if anyone were to tell her what happened, I'd cry. Ino was my first friend. If I lost her, I wouldn't know what to do.

"Ugly, what are you doing on the floor?" Sai asked me as he helped me up. I noticed that he had a guy version of my uniform. Cute, I told myself.

"I…I felt dizzy and felt like sitting down for a bit" I lied. If Sai knew it was a lie, he didn't show it.

Everyone entered the kitchen and ate. Shikamaru and I were the only ones quiet.

"Let's go to school now. I want to know where all my classes are" I said as I got up. Everyone agreed as we took the limo. In the car, I looked at my schedule.

_First Period: Physiology with Genma (Naruto, Shino)_

_Second Period: AP Statistics with Kurenai (Shikamaru, Sasuke, Shino)_

_Third Period: English 4 with Kakashi (Sasuke, Sai, Shino)_

_Fourth Period: Art with Iruka (Sai, Shino)_

_Fifth Period: AP Government and Economics with Asuma (Shikamaru, Sasuke, Shino)_

_Sixth Period: Free Period (Shino)_

"Urg, we have Genma-sensei for homeroom class!" Naruto cried.

"What are you complaining about?" I asked Naruto.

"That guy flirts way too much with the girl teachers and the students!!" Naruto said. His eyes widened.  
"I have to protect you from him, Sakura-chan! He'll most likely hit on you because you're really pretty!"

Shino nodded his head in agreement.

"He can't be that bad. He's just teaching physiology" I said trying to defend the teacher I never met.

Naruto frowned as we all gave him a weird look. He leaned in as if telling a secret. "That's his favorite subject. It deals with the body, if you catch my drift"

I rolled my eyes. Naruto exaggerates too much. "How are the other teachers?" I asked as I handed my paper to Sasuke.

"You already know how Kakashi is. Kurenai is pretty chill along with Asuma as long as you do your homework." Sasuke said.

"They recently got married" Shikamaru smiled. "Asuma-sensei is a family friend of my parents. I've known him since I was little"

"Iruka-sensei has a bad temper" Sasuke continued. "As long as you pay attention in class and do your homework, you'll do well in his class"

"Thanks" I grinned as I put the schedule in my backpack. We finally made it to the school as the limo parked right at the gates. I was surprised to see a lot of people lined up in front of the gates as they were cheering.

"Here we go again" Naruto grinned as the chauffeur opened the door for us. Naruto was the first one to walk out as fans were screaming.

"Brace yourself" Shino said as he left. Soon Shikamaru and Sai left as Sasuke was second to last. He helped me out of the car as I noticed that the other students had the same uniform as us but it was black.

"Why are their uniforms black and ours are white?" I asked. Sasuke gave me a look asking me if I was serious.

"It's because we're in the Student Council, you idiot" Sasuke said. "We get special uniforms." I glared at him as I linked arms with him and gave him a good pinch.

"What the hell!" He growled at me.

"Call me a name one more time, and you can say goodbye to being President of the Student Council. I'm your mother" I scolded him.

"Whatever mom" He said sarcastically.

I sighed as I went to catch up with Naruto and Shino since the three of us had class together.

"Hey Sakura" Sasuke called out to me. I turned around and looked at him. "Don't forget to come to our Student Council meetings after school. We have a lot to discuss"

I nodded my head as I walked to my first class at Konoha Academy.

-

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I was so lazy to create my own school uniform for them so I chose the Vampire Knight School uniform for the high school. I love their uniforms! I couldn't chose between the day class and the night class, so I put both in. For Neji's and the others' uniforms, I chose Code Geass'. You have to admit they have cute uniforms as well. Anyways, who knew Naruto to be so sneaky, putting Sakura into the Student Council like that? I put some NejiSakuShika and some GaaSaku for my readers that wanted to see some of that. I added some HIkaSaku as well. There will be new characters entering the story as well. I hope everyone liked this chapter. Please review everyone, it makes me happy. The rest of the school arc will have a few true events for the class Sakura is taking is what I'm taking except for art. Anyways, I hoped everyone liked this chapter. **PLEASE REVIEW EVERYONE…TOBI WILL GIVE YOU COOKIES!**

-Kumiko


	11. My First Day At School

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while! School was really overwhelming. I don't like my grades so far! Two A's. Two C's. And one D. RAWR! Senior year is so hard! Well anyways, enjoy the story.**

**Sakura Kiss**

I took a deep breath as I walked to my first class. Naruto and Shino had walked behind me. Unfortunately for me, I was in the way of the girls' idols.

"Shino-sama! Naruto-sama!" The girls screamed. My eyes widened as I was immediately pushed away bumping into someone's chest.

"I'm sorry" I quickly said as I looked up to see this man in his late 20's. He had long brown hair that went up to his shoulders. He was chewing on a long toothpick. He must be Genma-sensei, I figured.

"It's okay. I can't be mad at a beautiful girl like you. You must be Sakura Haruno, the honor student, right?" Genma smiled at me. "It's nice to see a new face around here. We barely get any new transfers. Word is that you're also the newest member of the Student Council"

"Um, yes" I said as I blushed. He called me beautiful!

"S-Sakura-chan!" Someone called out. I looked to see Hinata in my class.

"Hinata-chan!" I smiled as I hugged her.

"So you two know each other?" Genma asked.

Hinata nodded. "S-She's my best friend"

"Since I'm feeling nice today, I'll let everyone sit where they want" Genma announced to the class. I immediately pulled Hinata to seats in the back. I chose to get the one next to the window.

"Hey Hinata-chan" Kiba greeted her as he entered the classroom. He soon looked at me and smiled. "Hello Sakura"

"Hey Kiba" Hinata and I replied as he chose the seat in front of me.

"I want to sit next to Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined as he and Shino went to find seats. Most of the girls glared at me as some found it sweet. I sighed. I didn't need haters on my first day of school.

"Is she your girlfriend or something?" one of the guys joked in class. Everyone waited to see what Naruto had to say to that.

"Of course not!" Naruto said turning pink. "She's my friend. My best friend!"

I felt the glaring stop as the girls smiled at me and Naruto. How ABSOLUTELY SCARY! But I felt warm inside. Naruto didn't just think of me as a mother. He thinks of me as a best friend. Shino had chosen the seat to the right of the Kiba. Naruto soon chose to sit next to Hinata who turned red.

"Are you okay Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"I-I-I-"Hinata began to stutter. I heard Kiba mutter about how stupid Naruto was if he couldn't tell that Hinata liked him. I giggled. I had a feeling in time Naruto will realize his feelings for Hinata.

"She's fine, Naruto" I told him as I watched everyone find their seats.

"I happen to see familiar faces here in my class" Genma said as he began to write were everyone sat. "The seat you have chosen will be your seats from now on until I say otherwise. As you guys know, this is physiology. We will be talking about the body and its functions. We will be dissecting things as well. The paper I'm passing out right now will be signed by your parents saying its okay for you to do my labs. If your parents don't want you to, I'll find something for you to do." Genma said as the people in the front row passed the papers back. "Now, since this is the first day of school, you guys can kick back and relax until class is over."

People immediately got out of their seats and went to talk to their friends. I watched as people went to talk to Hinata, Naruto, Shino, and Kiba. Honestly, I felt left out. I was the new person who came out of nowhere. Everyone had history with each other.

The bell rang as everyone gathered their things. It seemed that Naruto and Hinata had the next class together as they both bid goodbye to me and left. Kiba already left the classroom. I had to find the next class by myself I guess. As I went to the door, I saw Shino waiting for me.

"Ready for our next class?" He asked me.

I smiled as I nodded my head. Shino held my hand as he led us to the next class. I shouldn't be feeling down. I was acting so selfish. Of course the others had other friends to talk to as well. But I was still important to them as well. I was their best friend and family.

Shino and I made it to our second period class which was AP Statistics. I could see Sasuke and Shikamaru sitting down in their seats as fan girls were trying to talk to them, well more like talk to Sasuke since Shikamaru had fallen asleep. Sasuke was just looking out the window ignoring the girls.

"It's the newest member of the student council!" I heard people beginning to say.

"Hello Sakura-sama" some of the girls greeted. I raised an eyebrow at them. Sama?

"Hello everyone" I smiled awkwardly.

"Omg! She said 'hi' and smiled at me!" One girl said as she blushed.

"She's so nice!" her friend said as they jumped up and down.

"Her smile is so cute!" a guy said.

"More like cool and spicy!" another guy said. "She talked back to the Secretary of the Student Council. She's not like the others girls in the school."

"Yeah! Sakura-sama is cool and spicy!" The whole class agreed.

I turned red as I walked towards Shikamaru and Sasuke. I looked to see that Shikamaru had awakened from his little and nap and was looking at me as he waved. I soon remembered the almost kiss moment earlier this morning. My face turned pink as I went to the seat between him and Sasuke. Shino followed me as he went to sit behind me. Shikamaru turned around in his chair to talk to Shino so I looked at Sasuke. I could see the corner of his lips moving upward.

"Cool and spicy?" He asked as he chuckled quietly. "Where do they come up with these things?"

My eyes widened. This was the first time I've seen Sasuke this close to laughing. I smiled as I shook my head. "Tell me about it!" I soon looked back at Shikamaru to see him looking at Sasuke with a surprised look.

"What's wrong?" I asked Shikamaru.

"It's nothing" Shikamaru said as he smiled at me. "How was your first class?"

"It was okay. Genma-sensei seems nice. Like I said before, Naruto exaggerated about him. Hinata-chan is in my class as well" I grinned.

"That's good" Shikamaru said. "Hey, I need to talk to you after class"

I looked at him confused. His cheeks were turning pink. "Okay" I told him as I saw a teacher come into the class room. She had wavy raven hair that went to her hips. She had blood red orbs. She was really pretty.

"Hello everyone. It's nice to see you all again this year. I hoped everyone enjoyed their summer. I see a lot of familiar faces and a few new ones. I'm Kurenai Sarutobi. As you guys know, this is AP Statistics. Today will be a chill day. I want to know why you guys wanted to take this class. Hm…Shikamaru, let's start off with you. You can then take a nap after" The class laughed.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru muttered. "I'm taking this class because I finished Calculus BC back in 8th grade and Tsunade-sama wouldn't let me graduate if I didn't take this class senior year."

I heard people talking about how smart he was. I was surprised. He took Calculus BC in 8th grade? Shikamaru was so cool!

"Okay. Sasuke, you're next" Kurenai said.

"Hn." I heard the fan girls sigh. BLEH!

"Um…okay. Shino?"

"I like math" Was all he said.

Kurenai sighed. "Alright, ooh, a new face! Sakura Haruno, is it? Why are you taking this class?"

"Well, I want to become a doctor when I graduate and train under my idol Tsunade-sama. I believe this class will help me in the future" I smiled.

Kurenai smiled back at me. "What a lovely reason." She said. She soon asked random kids. Some of the responses were that this was the last math level at this school, this class would help them in the future, and that they didn't want to take Calculus. We were soon given time to talk after she handed out papers to get signed.

"Sakura, I heard about your situation from the Principal" Kurenai whispered to me. "So you don't have to worry about getting the papers signed for your class."

"Thank you" I told her as the bell rang for break. Remembering that Shikamaru was going to talk to me after class, I told Sasuke and Shino to go ahead without us because Shikamaru was going to show me around the school.

The two nodded as they left the class. Kurenai noticed that Shikamaru and I were still in class as she was heading out for break.

"I'm going to lock you guys in. Just close the door when you guys are done here" Kurenai said as she left. I heard the click of the door as I sat on top of one of the desks. I wonder what Shikamaru wanted to talk to me about.

"What did you want to talk about Shika-kun?" I asked him. I watched as he walked up to me as he put his hands on both sides of the table, keeping me between his arms.

"Sakura" Shikamaru said. "About this morning…"

"…it was an accident Shika-kun." I said smiling at him.

"Yeah, an accident" He said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It was just bugging me a bit this morning. I thought it would push you away from me. You seemed really afraid of me when I fell on top of you"

My eyes widened. "Oh no! I wasn't afraid of you. I was actually just thinking about-"I stopped myself from saying Ino's name. I wonder how Shikamaru felt about her.

"Let's head out. Everyone is waiting for us" I said as we walked out of the classroom.

"Let me show you where the student council is" Shikamaru said as he led me outside of the building and towards the green house. It was really beautiful. We walked inside as I saw a blur of yellow and white run towards me. I quickly moved away as Naruto hit the ground.

"Idiot" Sasuke muttered.

"Go and take a look around Hag" Sai said as I walked around the green house. There was a large fountain in the middle of the building. Plants were all over the place and it really complimented the place. Further ahead, there was an elegant cream gazebo. There was a matching table and chairs around it.

"Do you like it Sakura-san?" Shino asked me.

"This place is so beautiful!" I said.

"Minato got the Principal before him to make this place." Naruto grinned. "Did you know Minato was the president of the school council when he came here?"

"Really?!" I said as my eyes widened. I never knew that. Soon the bell rang for third period as I went to see Sai was waiting for me at the exit.

"Where are the other two?" I asked him as we linked arms.

"They went to class early" Sai said. I nodded as we headed off to English with Kakashi.

When we arrived, I saw Karin and Ami trying to talk to Sasuke who in turn was ignoring them. Shino was talking to Kiba. I was immediately pushed away again by the crazy fangirls.

"Sai-kun!" I heard Kasumi purr as other girls were screaming to have Sai look at them.

Before I could fall to the ground, someone caught me which caused everyone to stop what they were doing and look at us.

"What do we have here?" a voice said. I looked up to see a boy who had shoulder length white hair with blue tints at the end. His purple eyes stared at me surprised. He looked up to see Kasumi smirking at me as she had her arms wrapped around Sai's. Sasuke had gotten up from his seat and watch as the boy helped me back on my feet.

"Great it's shark boy" Karin muttered and Ami frowned at me for taking Sasuke's attention from them.

'**News Flash honey, he wasn't even looking at you two.' **My inner shouted.

"Shut up lava-girl! Tell your little bitch here to control herself. She could have hurt her" He said. Kasumi's mouth dropped for being called a bitch.

Karin growled. "Suigetsu, you little-ARG!!"

Suigetsu smirked. "You okay?" He asked me.

"I'm fine. Thanks. I'm Sakura Haruno" I introduced myself.

"I know who you are" He smirked. "The name is Suigetsu Houzuki. Hm, why is it that Sasuke seemed worried when you got pushed? Are you his girlfriend or something?"

I blushed as I shook my head. "Oh no! We're nothing like that. We're just friends"

"Interesting" Suigetsu said. "I'd like to get to know you better"

"She's not interested!" Karin sneered. "Stop hitting on every girl you set your eyes on!"

I raised an eyebrow at the two. Karin seemed like she likes Suigetsu.

"Don't be jealous because I don't hit on you" Suigetsu grinned as he wrapped his arms around my waist. "Besides, Sakura here is a really cutie"

Karin blushed as she fixed her glasses. "I am not jealous"

"Let go of her now" A deadly voice said. I looked behind Suigetsu to see Gaara glaring at him.

"Gaara-kun!" I grinned as I went to hug him.

"Forehead-girl! I finally have a class with you" Ino said as she went to hug me. Behind her was Chouji.

"Hey Sakura" Chouji greeted me.

"Hello Chouji!" I said as I hugged him.

"Wow! Not only do we have Billboard Brows as a classmate, we get Ino-pig as well" Ami sneered. "Brings back memories, doesn't it girls?"

She was really pissing me off. Grabbing a pencil from a desk, I threw it at her. The whole class stood silent as the pencil embedded itself into the wall behind Ami. The impact was so hard, that the wall began to crack around the pencil.

"Piss me off again and I won't miss next time" I growled. Ami seemed to have gotten the message as she went to her seat. Karin went with her.

I heard Suigetsu whistle as he put an arm around my shoulders. "I like her!" He said looking at Sasuke. "You can sit next to me anytime!"

"Hn" Sasuke said. "She's sitting with m-"

"With me" Sai cut Sasuke off as he pulled me to a desk with him. Sasuke glared at Sai who smirked back.

Ino raised an eyebrow at me as if asking me to tell her details later. Ino chose to sit on my other side.

"Where's Kakashi?" I asked.

"Don't worry about him" Kiba said as he sat down in front of me. "He's always late for class"

"Really?" I asked surprised.

The door soon opened to reveal someone walking in.

"Sorry I'm late everyone, I had to help this lady find her contacts" Kakashi said walking in.

"LIAR!" the whole class shouted.

"Yes, yes! Well, here are papers I need your parents to sign and bring back tomorrow for 10 points. Tomorrow, we'll be getting your books so don't forget to bring your ID card." Kakashi said as he passed out the papers. When he was done, he came up to me.

"Sakura, I need to talk to you outside" Kakashi smiled at me. Kakashi noticed the glare Sai was giving him. "Don't worry Sai" Kakashi ruffled his hair. "I won't do anything to your mommy" He whispered. Sai blushed but didn't say anything.

I followed Kakashi out of the classroom as he closed the door behind him.

"I'm here to give you your next goal to finish. Motherly goal number four is to give Shikamaru a good birthday present. His is on September 22. Oh, and you can't buy anything. You have to hand-make it yourself" Kakashi grinned.

Making something for my son's birthday? It didn't seem bad. In fact, it seemed fun.

After a few minutes of talking, the bell ran as people exited their classes. I found Sai and Shino looking for me. We walked to our art class as I saw a familiar teacher.

"Iruka-sensei!" I said as I went to hug him.

His eyes widened as he looked at me. "Sakura Haruno? My, have you grown! I remember when you were still this small" Iruka said as he lowered his hand to his thigh. "Why didn't you tell me you were going back to school instead of being homeschooled?"

"I didn't know you taught here until I saw you at orientation." I smiled.

"We'll catch up later, go find a seat." Iruka smiled as I decided to sit next to Sai. Looking at the people entering the class, I saw Kasumi entering as if she was royalty. She glared at me as she noticed I had chosen a seat next to Sai. Heading to the next available seat, she was stopped when Hinata came and stole the seat. Steaming, she chose the seat next to me. Shino had chosen a seat next to Hinata. Just great, I told myself. What a way to start a new school year huh?

Like the rest of teachers, Iruka began to talk about the class and what was expected of us. He soon passed out papers for us to sign.

"Well, this whole week, I'm going to be going through the green sheets and rules for this class. So for the rest of the class, you can chit chat amongst yourselves" Iruka said as he sat down in his desk and did paperwork.

I looked over at Sai to see him staring at the artwork around the room. I saw him staring at a particular one.

"Sai-kun?" I called out to him. Looking at the picture he was looking at, I noticed the art work was done by no other than him and Raiko. The painting must have brought back hurtful memories to him.

"Sai-kun?" I called out again. I poked him on the shoulder as he still didn't react. Weird. I poked him a few more times, before he looked at me.

"What?" He asked stoically.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked him in my most gently voice.

"There's nothing to talk about because you don't know anything" Sai raised his voice at me. I winced at the tone of his voice. It sent shivers down my spine. Sai was soon hit in the head by Shino.

"If you haven't forgotten…"Shino said in a volume only the three of us could hear. "…she's our mother. You have to respect her as one. That means no yelling at her"

Sai seemed to have forgotten that I was his mother as he frowned and left the class early.

"Man, just when I thought I was getting closer to him." I said sadly as I could feel myself leaning. "Iruka-sensei, I'm leaving early."

Iruka-sensei must have witnessed what happened as he nodded. I soon began to walk down the large hall as I slowly tried to walk to Asuma-sensei's class. Some people that had a free period were walking around the hall as they watch my miserable walk. I had this leaning feeling.

"Isn't that Sakura Haruno?" One of them said.

"You mean the Student Council's bodyguard?" his friend asked.

"Yeah, that's her. Look at her" the first guy said.

"Oh my, is she leaning?" the girl in the group asked.

"She's actually leaning while she's walking" the second guy said.

"Someone is approaching her!"

I saw someone crouch down so I can go on his back.

"Gaara-kun" I said as I went on his back. When I was always sad, Gaara would give me a piggyback as he would listen to my problems. It was like he had Sakura-senses!

"What happened?" He asked as he headed towards Asuma's class.

"It's nothing" I said as I tightened my grip around his neck.

"I know you better than that. Someone made you sad, am I right? You don't want to tell me so I won't have to kill them" Gaara said.

"It's Sai" I said. "He got mad at me when he was thinking about a sad memory."

"If he's acting like an ass, he doesn't deserve you caring about him." Gaara said as we finally made it to Asuma's class before the bell rang. I slowly got off from Gaara as I thanked him. He nodded as he went to his next class.

The bell rang as people began to exit their classes.

"Forehead-girl?" Ino asked as she exited Asuma's class.

"Hey" I said as I entered the class.

"Are you okay?" She asked me.

"I'm fine. Just go to class before you're late" I said wanting to drop the conversation.

"If you say so" Ino said as she left the class.

I looked to see a teacher smoking in class! Are you kidding me?

"Smoking is bad for you Asuma-sensei" I told him as I chose a seat way in the back next to the window.

He smirked as he stopped. "Looking at your hair, you must be Sakura Haruno, the bodyguard of the Student Council" He said.

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked.

"I'm just surprised they let you in, especially since you're a girl" He said. I raised an eyebrow. Was Asuma-sensei sexist?

As if reading my mind, he shook his head. "I'm not being sexist if that's what you're thinking. It's just that ever since freshman year there had never been a new member to join the current group, even with Neji graduating. It's even more surprising they let a girl join the group, with their crazy fangirls and all. It makes me and the other teachers wonder about it. We were actually talking about it during break"

"I wasn't expecting to be part of it. Naruto just came and announced it out of the blue" I honestly said as I rested my head on the desk.

Asuma just chuckled as he looked at the teacher picture he had hanging on the wall.

"Just what are you planning Minato?" Asuma whispered.

I watched as people began to enter the classroom. I saw Shino walking in worried about me. I told him I was fine as he sat next to me. Shikamaru and Sasuke soon came in as they went and sat around me. Shikamaru was behind me as Sasuke was in front. So it was like I was surrounded.

"SASUKE-KUN!" A voice said.

I frowned. Great I had Karin in another class of mine. She attempted to flirt and get Sasuke's attention, but it wasn't working. Sasuke just looked out the window like i did.

And that's how the class went throughout the whole day. Sasuke and the others seemed to have noticed how quiet I was in class, but they didn't say anything. The bell rang as the others went to their last class. Shino and I had a free period so we began to walk around.

"Do you want to go the Student Council building? I'll make us some lemonade if you'd like" Shino said. I thanked him as I followed him there.

Like he said, he made lemonade as he poured me a glass.

"Are you still sad about Sai's actions?" Shino asked me slowly as he watched my actions.

"It doesn't matter." I said as I rested my head on the cool table while waiting for the Student Council Meeting to start.

"Well, you two should talk it out or just forget about it. That's how Sai is. He doesn't know what it's like to be truly cared for by a girl. He's never known what having a mother felt like, remember that."

I closed my eyes as I thought about what Shino said.

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**Poor Sakura. Don't give up. How did you guys like the chapter. I had to add Suigetsu and Karin into this story. They make it fun! I wonder who else I should add into the story. If you guys have any ideas, don't be afraid to tell me.**

**-Kumiko  
**


	12. Mother Life Is Revealed

**Omg, did I just update this story? Yes…yes I did. I'm sorry for not updating for a while. I've been so busy at school. So much stuff to do that I barely have time to sit down and type up a new chapter. For this chapter, the POV will change a lot so pay close attention so you won't get confused. I hope you guys will enjoy this story. Please review after.**

**Sakura Kiss **

To Sakura, it felt that 6th period took forever to end. So she told Shino that she was going to take a nap somewhere around the green house. He warned her not to walk too far off because the place was big, and I mean big. It was like a jungle.

She found a nice area near a pond as she decided to rest more. A couple minutes later, the rest of the student council members showed up at the green house. Shino was working on his homework.

Naruto noticed that a certain member wasn't there. "Shino, where's Sakura-chan?"

"She decided to take a nap somewhere" Shino said. "She seemed upset" He said looking at Sai. Sai's eyes widened as he frowned.

"What caused her to be upset?" Shikamaru asked.

Shino shrugged. "Ask Sai"

"What did you do to her?" Sasuke asked as he glared at his brother. Sai said nothing as he walked away.

"He got mad because he was thinking about Raiko again, and he let out his frustration on Sakura-san" Shino explained.

"Hn" Sasuke said.

"Hey Sasuke, we were wondering…why'd you take Raiko from Sai even though she was stealing and selling off Sai's art?" Naruto asked.

"It's none of your business. Just be glad I found out what she was doing before she could do any more damage to this family" Sasuke said as he sat down on the table.

**XxXxXxX**

Sai frowned as he looked all over the green house. He couldn't find his pink haired mother anywhere. How hard was it to find pink? He made it to a clearing where he finally found her. She was resting near the pond.

Sakura had her left arm on her abdominal as Sai could hear her soft breathing. The sun shined through the glass ceiling as it shined on her. Her head was tilted to the right. Sai sat down next to her as he studied her features. She was really beautiful now that he really looked at her. She was the only girl he knew that had pink hair and green eyes and made the look work.

"Sai-kun" he heard her whisper in her sleep. He raised an eyebrow. She was dreaming about him? He watched as her peaceful face turned into a pained one.

"Hag…" He said with a gentle voice. He never said sorry to anyone before. So this was hard for him. Sai lowered his head down so that he could feel her hot breath on his lips. He moved his mouth near her ear. "…I'm sorry, okay?"

He moved a few strands of her hair behind the shell of her ear. Sai soon moved away as he watched her beginning to wake up. Sakura blinked her eyes a few times before looking around her surroundings. A blurry image of Sai became clear in view.

"S-Sai-kun?" Sakura asked as she stretched. "How long was I out?"

Sai shrugged his shoulders. "A couple minutes after 6th period ended. Everyone is waiting for you so we can start the meeting." Sakura's eyes widened as Sai lifted her up from the ground.

"Man, you're skinny" He said as began to walk away. Sakura smiled. It seemed like things were okay between her and Sai again. She didn't know how, but she wasn't complaining. Sai held her hand as the two walked back to the others and began their meeting.

**XxXxXxX**

"So how was the first day of being in the Student Council, forehead-girl?" Ino asked me on the way to third period.

"It was okay. We were already talking about the rules and regulations, future dances and events. My job is to make sure that no one bothers the rest of the members and if there is any trouble in the school, I'm in charge of fixing it." I said as I sighed. "Not only that, I have to deal with my next motherly goal"

Ino raised an eye brow. "And what's that?"

"Give Shikamaru a good birthday present. But I can't buy anything. I have to hand-make it" I said. "I don't even know what to give him!"

Ino's eyes shined as if she just came up with a good idea. "You should make him gloves or a scarf! It's starting to get cold. It would be a good gift for him. Make it green. It's his favorite color"

"You really know a lot about him, don't you?" I smiled as I linked arms with her.

Ino blushed as she gave me a gentle smile. "Of course! I've known that lazy ass since we were in diapers. He's always been there for me. But I couldn't be there for him when his parents…" Ino didn't finish her sentence but I understood what she was trying to say. I could tell that Ino really cared about Shikamaru. Heck, she was in love with him. Also Ino's birthday was the day after Shikamaru's. I soon came up with a plan.

"So…" Ino began to say. "You never really got to tell me what's going on between you, Sasuke, and Sai"

"T-There's nothing going on!" I said as I remembered my kiss with Sai. Well more like my accidental kiss.

"So something did happen!" Ino grinned. Boy did this girl love things like this.

"I said nothing happened!" I said as my voice got higher.

Ino gave me a look. "You're voice got higher. That happens when you lie"

I sighed. Ino knew me too well. "Saikissedmewhenitriedtowakehimupduringourvacation" I said really fast.

"What was that?" Ino grinned. "I didn't quiet hear you"

"I said Sai kissed me when I tried to wake him up during our vacation trip." I said.

"WHAT!" Ino screamed catching the attention of everyone in the hallways.

"Shush!" I said covering her mouth. "I don't want anyone else to find out! He thought I was his ex girlfriend"

"Sai that sly! He did that to his own mother?" Ino giggled and then sighed. "You are so lucky to have a harem of sons who are the Student Council"

"Enough of that! People might hear us! Let's just go to class" I said as I pulled Ino towards Kakashi's class.

"But Sasuke seems to like you though" Ino said.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm their mother. They can't feel things like that towards me" I said getting a bit irritated. "Same goes for me too"

Ino just smiled as we entered the class. If we were more careful and alert, I would have noticed a certain fan girl walking behind us.

**XxXxXxXxX**

During Kakashi's class, we were working in groups. I could feel someone staring at me. Looking, I noticed Ami and her girls looking at me intensely. What the hell was their problem?

"What the hell?" I whispered to Ino. Ino looked over at the girls and glared at them.

"Just ignore them. They're weird." Ino said.

"Why do they act like they rule the school?" I asked her.

"Karin thinks she's the best just because her dad is funding most of this school. That's why she hasn't been kicked out yet. Ami thinks she can do whatever she wants because her dad is the leader of the Police Department. And for Kasumi…she's just a bitch" Ino said. I laughed causing Kakashi to look at the two of us, but said nothing.

"I don't understand Karin" Suigetsu said. He was in our group. "She knows Sasuke doesn't like her but she still chases after him."

"Just tell her you like her" I said bluntly. Ino's eyes widened as Suigetsu choked on her spit.

"W-What?!" He said turning pink.

"You like her, don't you?" I asked. "I think she likes you back"

"I don't like her" He said in a tone telling me not to argue. "She's in love with Sasuke, end of story"

I shrugged as the group went back to work. I couldn't help but look up at Suigetsu. He was looking at Karin. Looking at Karin's group, she was secretly looking back at him.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

School was finally over as I went home early. The others were still at school for the Student Council meeting. Neji was already here, I could tell. His shoes were placed neatly on the shoe rack.

"Neji-kun?" I called out as I checked his bedroom. He wasn't there. Looking out the window, I saw the door to the Judo outside was open.

Entering the Judo, I silently watched as Neji was practicing. He was really good! He was practicing with a dummy as he tore it to shreds! What a beast! I soon clapped for him.

"Pinky?" Neji said. "When did you guys get home?"

"I got home a couple minutes ago. The others are still at school. You're really good" I said.

"Ah. I've been doing Judo since I was little" Neji said as he sat down next to me. I handed him a water bottle that was next to me as he thanked me.

"That's right! I remembered going to a party with Hinata-chan and you two had to perform. The Hyuga family is known for its excellent Judo." I smiled. "That's when I first met you"

"That was back when Hinata-sama and I were in middle school though" Neji said. "I don't remember seeing you though."

"That's because Hinata would always sneak me in. Her father didn't like me because he thought I was going to be a bad influence for her." I said honestly.

"Why wouldn't he like you?" Neji asked becoming interested in my past. I didn't want to tell him too much. I didn't want him to judge me like the others.

"Let's just say my past isn't a good one." I said. "Did you eat yet?" I tried to change the subject.

He shook his head.

"Then let's go out to eat! Just us two. I haven't been able to hang out with you recently" I said.

Neji agreed as he went to take a shower first. I smiled. I can go and buy the material needed for the presents as well.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Daddy!" Ami called out as she went to the Police Station.

"Yes Princess?" Ami's dad asked.

"I need to look up a person named Sakura Haruno" Ami asked.

"Honey, I can't do that unless I have a good reason why"

Ami frowned. "Are you trying to stop me?"

Her dad quickly shook his head. "Not at all Princess. Daddy just wants to know"

"There's a new girl at our school. I have a feeling she's bad for the school" Ami lied.

"If it's to help the school then okay" Her dad said. "Here's the key"

"Thank you daddy! I love you" Ami said as she kissed her father's head.

Exiting out of her father's office, Karin and Kasumi were waiting in the hall.

"Did you get it?" Kasumi asked.

"Yup" Ami said. "Now, let's find out the truth about Sakura Haruno"

"Is it true that Sakura is actually the mother of the Student Council?" Karin asked.

"I heard it right from the Bitch's mouth" Ami said.

"How is that possible though?" Kasumi asked.

"That's what we're trying to find out you idiot" Ami said as she socked Kasumi in the boob.

Entering the file records, the girls split up to find the file.

"I found it!" Karin said after a couple minutes of searching.

"What does it say?" Ami asked. Karin put the file down so the trio could look.

**Name: **Sakura Haruno

**DOB: **3/28/92

**Place of birth: **Konoha, Japan

**Race: **Japanese

**Sex: **Female

**Height:** 161cm

**Weight: **45kg

**Eyes: **Green

**Hair: **Pink

**Social Security #: **112-54-1234

**Family: **Daisuke Haruno (Deceased), Hana Honda (Deceased), Sasori Haruno (Unknown).

**Current Status:** Lived at Konoha Park and is in debt. Currently living with the Namikaze

"That's it?" Ami asked. "Forget this; I'm going to the bathroom."

"I'll go with you" Kasumi said.

Karin was left in the room. "There should be more. The brothers are known as the Namikaze so…" Karin went to the N files as she pulled out Minato Namikaze.

**Name:** Minato Namikaze (Deceased)

**DOB: **January 25, 1966

**Place of Birth: **Konoha,Japan

**Race: **Japanese

**Sex: **Male

**Height: **179.2 cm

**Weight:** 66.1 kg

**Eyes: **Blue

**Hair: **Blonde

**Social Security #: **112-52-1234

**Family: **Kushina Uzumaki (Deceased), Naruto Uzumaki, Sai Sakamoto, Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame, Neji Hyuga, Sakura Haruno

**Current Status:** Died due to unknown reasons. Married Sakura Haruno for paying her debt until she paid back the money she owns.

"Kushina Uzumaki?" Karin whispered. "Is she Naruto's birth mother? Then that means Sakura is their step-mother or something. Things just got interesting" Karin smirked.

**XxXxXxXxX**

The next day at school, people were looking at me strangely as I arrived with my sons to school.

"It must be true!" I heard some people talk. "I mean, she's arriving with them to school"

"I see her hold hands with them sometimes. That's just plain weird"

What was going on, I wondered.

"Sakura-chan" Hinata said running towards me worried.

"Hinata-chan, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"It's Karin and the others. T-They found out" She said. "She found out that you're the mother of the Student Council."

"WHAT!" Sasuke said mad.

"How did they find out?" Shikamaru asked. "I thought Tsunade-sama had the under control"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out!" I growled as I made my way to the three who were spreading the news all over the school.

"Well speak of the devil, here she is" Ami said as she smirked.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.

"I don't think it's fair that a new girl like you can just come and be all friendly with the Namikaze brothers while us girls have been trying for years, to get them to look at us" Kasumi spoke.

"That's stupid!" I said. "Just doing this will make them hate you"

"Don't be ridiculous. They probably didn't even want a step mother like you. You married into the Namikaze money so you can attend this school and for the money. You were a homeless living in Konoha Park, right?" Karin laughed evilly.

The people around me began to talk as I clenched my fists.

"What's going on here?" Jiraiya asked as he and the rest of the teachers came to see what the commotion was about.

"You're not even family to them. Just some stranger in their lives. Naruto's real mother Kushina Uzumaki died giving birth to him! His real father is Minato Namikaze." Ami said. "Minato probably took you in because he felt sorry for a poor bitch like you. You have no real family!"

I could sense Naruto behind me. I wonder how he was taking the news. I tried to control my tears but I couldn't as they rolled down my cheeks.

"That's enough!" Naruto said as he rested his elbow on my head. "Leave my mother alone. We're her real family. So don't talk like you know anything about her"

"We should have sent you three to the hospital before we graduated." I looked to see Tenten and Temari in front of me as they were cracking their knuckles. Neji was next to me as he ruffled my hair.

"Don't cry. We're here" Neji said as he wiped my tears away.

"Neji-niisan" Hinata called out. "What are you doing here?"

Neji pushed me towards her. "Take care of her while I deal with these three"

Hinata nodded as she tried to calm me down.

"Tsunade-sama, may I have permission?" Temari asked.

Tsunade sighed. "Go ahead"

Karin's eyes widened as Tenten smirked. "Time to teach you bitches where your place is"

After a couple minutes, Shizune had to treat three injured girls in her office.

Naruto was the quietest one in the group as Jiraiya and Kakashi were talking to him.

"You okay now?" Lee asked.

I nodded. "Why did you guys come here?"

"Hinata called us earlier" Kankuro spoke. "She said that you would be in trouble"

"I can't believe you let them get to you" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke!" Ino said. "You're being insensitive!"

Sasuke walked up to me as he poked my forehead. "You should know by now that we're family! Real or not! You're…You're still our mother until the contract ends"

"Sasuke-kun!" I cried as more tears streamed down my face.

"Look what you did" Tenten teased as she poked his cheek. "You made her cry"

Sasuke blushed as he rolled his eyes. He pulled me into a hug as he tried to soothe me.

He was right. We are family. Real or not"

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**Sorry it's short. But this is all I could come up with right now. I hoped you guys enjoyed it. Please continue to read my story. Review Everyone**

**-Kumiko**


	13. The New Daddy Figure Has Arrive

**Sakura Kiss**

I woke up in the middle of the night as I turned to my side and looked at the clock. It was 1:30 in the morning. My throat was feeling dry so I got up and headed to the kitchen. When I got down there, I was surprised to see Naruto sitting there with the lights off as he was drinking a glass of milk.

"Naruto?" I called out. Naruto looked up at me. His eyes were full of confusion, sadness, happiness, and anger.

"Hey Mom…I mean Sakura-chan" Naruto said. I frowned.

"Is it about what the girls said yesterday?" I asked as I took a sit next to him and poured myself a glass of milk. I then refilled his cup.

He thanked me as he took a sip. "Yeah. Jiraiya-sensei and Kakashi-sensei told everything. Minato is my real father. I had a feeling he was. I'm not stupid. I could see the resemblance. My mother was one of the Student Council members when my dad was president. Kushina Uzumaki. She died because of me."

"It's not your fault" I said as I took Naruto's hand in mine and patted it. "Your mother wouldn't want you to grow up and hate yourself."

"I just want to know why I didn't stay with Minato in the beginning. Why was I sent to live with Iruka-sensei?" Naruto said.

"But Minato-san came and took you in as his son." I reminded him.

Naruto smiled. "Yeah. He found me when I was getting into a fight. I was getting jumped. I was going in and out of consciousness. Soon the leader of the gang got kicked in the face and was sent flying. I heard my father say to me "Don't give up" before I closed my eyes. His voice sounded weird, but I know it was him because when I woke up again, I was in the hospital getting treated for my injuries and he was there by my side."

My eyes widened. Why did that quote seem so familiar? I shook my head as I pushed it back in my mind.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto called out to me as he waved his hand in my face.

"I'm still sleepy. Let's go to bed. We have school in like five hours" I said as I got up and put my cup away.

"Sorry for keeping you up." Naruto apologized.

"It's what mothers do, right?" I said. Naruto looked at me as if something was in his mind.

"Thank you for listening" Naruto said as he watched me go with a smile.

**XxXxXxXxX**

When we arrived at school, everyone was looking at me and making comments. I began to just ignore it. As long as I had my family and my friends with me, I'd be okay.

"How troublesome!" Shikamaru sighed. "You need to control your fan girls, Sasuke. Women are so troublesome"

I glared at Shikamaru as he just shrugged. Sai just gave everyone a fake smile as we walked by. Naruto was saying "Good Morning" to everyone like usual. Shino was silent as usual while Sasuke was scaring everyone and shutting them up with his terrifying glare. He seemed really pissed off that people found out our secret.

"Sakura-chan" A quiet voice called out to me.

"Hinata-chan!" I smiled as I gave her a hug. Ino, Gaara, Kiba, and Chouji were walking up to us as well. Hinata looked pass me and stared at her crush. How I knew? Her face turned as red as a tomato.

"Good morning Hinata!" Naruto greeted her with a smile. Hinata fainted as Naruto caught her.

"Sakura-chan! Hinata fainted!" Naruto cried out.

"Take her to the nurse's office" I said as I walked away. As I was about to turn the corner, I bumped into someone as I was about to fall forwards on the person.

"Sakura" I heard Kiba call out for me as everyone watched. I felt the person wrap their arm around my waist as we fell to the ground.

"I knew you'd fall for me eventually" said a familiar voice.

"H-Hikaru?" I said as I stared at him smiling at me.

**XxXxXxX**

Ino watched the scene between Sakura and Hikaru.

"I knew you'd fall for me eventually" Hikaru said. Ino felt a cold glare behind her. Looking back, she saw Shikamaru, Sai, and Sasuke glaring at Hikaru. Ino couldn't tell what Shino was doing because she couldn't see through his glasses. She looked to her right to see Kiba and Gaara glaring as well.

"Who's that?" Sasuke growled. Ino smirked. Time to test things out.

"That's a family friend of hers" Ino said out loud. "He has a crush on Sakura"

"I don't like him" Sasuke muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"He's not good enough for her" Sai said.

"How troublesome. As long as he doesn't hurt her, I'm okay" Shikamaru said.

"You're okay with it?" Ino asked.

"She's my mother, but she's still a teenager like us. Who am I to stop her from liking someone?" Shikamaru said.

"So you don't have a crush on her like these other guys?" Shino asked.

Sasuke and Sai blushed when they heard Shino's comment.

"I don't like the Hag. She's our mother…we have the right to worry and hate on the guy after her"

Ino almost cracked up. Tenten and Temari needed to hear this. It seemed like Shino wasn't interested in Sakura which is good for Temari. Tenten is trying to pursue Lee. It seems like Shikamaru didn't like Sakura like that as well. Naruto just seemed to care about Sakura as a mother or a sister. So it was all squared down to Sasuke, Sai, and Neji. Oh yes, we couldn't forget about Gaara, Kiba, Hikaru, and…

Ino shuddered. She couldn't forget her cousin Deidara. But the only good thing about it was that if her cousin got with Sakura, they could be cousin-in laws.

"Ino, what are you thinking?" Shikamaru asked as he noticed the glowing light emitting from his friend. Ino giggled and sighed as she thought about the possibilities for her best friend.

She was soon snapped out of her thoughts when Sakura and Hikaru began walking up to the group.

**XxXxXxX**

I noticed Ino was in her fantasy trance due to the glowing light surrounding her. Hopefully it wasn't about me, because if it was, she'd go out of her way to make it come true.

"Hello, I'm Hikaru, Sakura's future boyfriend" Hikaru grinned as he shook hands with Shino.

"Shino, Sakura's son" Shino introduced himself while frowning at Hikaru.

"Stop joking around Hikaru" I said as I pushed Hikaru away from me. I heard someone scoff. I looked to see Gaara glaring at him.

"What makes you think you have what it takes to be with Sakura?" Gaara asked.

"What makes you think you do?" Hikaru asked with a glare of his own.

Gaara continued to glare at Hikaru. The air around the two was suffocating. I swear I thought I saw the sand under Gaara levitating a bit.

"Hn, I won't accept you" Sasuke said as he can and pulled me away from the group.

"Sasuke-kun!" I raised my voice a bit as I tried to pull my hand out of his grip. "What the hell?"

"Who does that guy think he is?" Sasuke said to himself as he frowned even more than he did every day.

"Hikaru is my friend. A family friend to be exact!" I said as I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "You are being rude to him" I was getting irritated with him.

"Hn" He said as he ran his fingers through his hair. I blushed but then frowned. There goes that one word thing of his. That just irritated me more.

"You say that when you know I'm right" I said as I poked my finger on his chest.

Sasuke surprised me when he grabbed my finger and moved it away from his chest. He soon pushed me up against the wall as both his hands were on the side of my head. His right knee was between my legs. It was really becoming hot between us.

"I don't want you near him" Sasuke said to me. Oh, hell no. He crossed the line.

"You have no right to tell me who I can or cannot be with. I can hang out with Hikaru anytime I want!" I yelled.

"Is he that important to you that you'd rather be with him than me?" Sasuke asked me as he brought his face close to me to the point that if I moved forward just an inch, we'd kiss.

"Right now, yes!" I said as I pushed Sasuke away from me. "At least he's not acting like a jerk!"

My eyes widened as I realized what I said. I didn't mean it, I was just irritated. I was about to apologize but Sasuke didn't looked at me.

"So annoying" Sasuke said as he quickly walked away.

"You know what?!" I shouted. "SMIP! SUCK MY IMAGINARY PENIS!"

Sasuke said nothing as he turned the corner. I got really angry so I punched the cement wall next to me, causing a large dent. I heard the sound of people walking by getting scared. I sighed as I headed to Genma-sensei's class.

**XxXxXxXxX**

The bell rang as it was time to head to my math class. I was really mad during first period and thankfully Naruto, Shino, Hinata, and Kiba didn't bother me about it. Shino and I made it to Kurenai-sensei's class as I was about to open the door. Another hand had gone and touched mine. Looking up, it was no other than Sasuke who glared at me to back up. I glared at him back.

Everyone in the hallway watched the scene as I told Sasuke to let go of my hand. He stood silent.

"If you don't, I'll bite you" I warned him.

"Go ahead" He said. I smirked as I bit him hard on the hand.

He immediately let go as he shook his hand. "You bit me!"

"I told you I would" I told him as Shino and I entered the class.

"Sakura-san, are you and Sasuke fighting?" Shino asked me.

"He's being a jerk." I said as I sat down in my seat. Sasuke chose a seat that was another seat away from me. I guess Shino noticed my annoyance with Sasuke sitting there so he sat in the seat between us.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow at us as she noticed the hostility between me and Sasuke. "Class, we will be having a new student with us today. Come right in" Kurenai called to the other side of the door. The door opened as Sasuke glared at our new classmate.

"Sakura!" Hikaru greeted me as he waved at my direction.

"Seems you know Sakura-san" Kurenai said with a smile. "You can sit next to her"

"Thank you Sensei" Hikaru bowed as he sat next to me. Throughout the whole class time, I talked to Hikaru as Sasuke angrily took notes.

The bell rang for break as Sasuke was the first to leave followed by Shino. I was about to leave too but Hikaru grabbed my wrist.

"I need to talk to you" Hikaru said as he pulled me to the isolated staircases.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

**XxXxXxX**

"Where's Sakura?" Shikamaru asked as the boys met in front of the lockers.

"Hn" Sasuke said.

"Didn't you just have class with her?" Naruto asked.

Shino was about to say something but the look Sasuke was given him shut him up.

"A-Are you guys looking for Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked as she passed by.

"Hey Hinata! Have you seen her?" Naruto asked. Hinata blushed but didn't faint.

"I-I saw her walking with H-Hikaru-san a few minutes ago. He pulled her away towards the staircases that led down to the second floor." Hinata said.

"Thanks Hinata" Naruto said as he hugged her. Naruto and the boys soon left to go find their mother. Hinata waited as they turned the corner.

"N-Naruto-kun hugged me…" Hinata whispered as she smiled.

**XxXxXxX**

"Sakura…" Hikaru said as he held my hands in his. His actions were beginning to worry me. "Live with me!" And that's how my sons found me.

"HELL NO!" Naruto's voice shouted as he punched Hikaru in the face.

"Hikaru!" I said in shock. Naruto came out of nowhere.

"Who do you think you are asking Sakura-chan to live with you?" Naruto growled.

"I'm me" Hikaru said as he held his cheek. "My mom wants Sakura to live with me" Hikaru put his phone on speakerphone as he called his mother.

'_Hello'_

"Hey mom"

'_Hikaru-kun! Have you talked to Sakura-chan yet?'_

"Yeah. But her sons doesn't want her to"

'_Am I on speaker?'_

"Hello Kawasaki-san" I said.

'_Sakura-chan! Would you mind living with Hikaru-kun for a while? You see, his father and I are going to be traveling out of the country. Since Hikaru-kun was able to get accepted into Konoha Academy, I think it would be a shame if he had to drop it to come with us. So I was wondering if you could stay with him for a while. I'll pay you as well'_

I was about to answer but Shikamaru took the phone from me.

"Hello Mrs. Kawasaki-san. This is Shikamaru Nara. I have a better idea. I don't like the idea of Sakura staying alone in a house with a guy. I don't think it's appropriate. So to make it better, Hikaru could stay with us until you come back. We'd be okay with Hikaru staying at our place for the time being."

"Speak for yourselves!" Sasuke said frowning at Hikaru. Hikaru smirked as he put his arm around my waist.

"You'd be okay with that, right Sakura?" Hikaru asked me with a gentle smile. I shrugged.

"I'll take that as a yes" Hikaru said.

"Whatever…" I said as I began to walk away.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

During 6th period, I went walking around the library. It was like the King of all Libraries! Damn these rich people. I decided to look around the arts and crafts section to find ideas for Shikamaru's and Ino's birthday present. As I walked around, I began to hear the sound of a man…dare I say it…giggling. As I turned the corner, I had a face of disgust. When I looked, it was no other than Kakashi-sensei.

"Have you no shame?" I asked as I caught him reading his porno book.

Kakashi looked at me and smiled before closing his book. "Hello Sakura. How are you today?"

"Stressed" I said as I sat down next to him on the floor.

"How's your mother goal going along?"

"It's okay. Still trying to find out what to make him though" I sighed. I soon remembered that Kakashi was also talking to Naruto when he found out about his parents.

"Hey, what do you know about Naruto's parents?" I asked him.

"Minato was Naruto's biological father and Kushina Uzumaki was his biological mother" Kakashi said.

"Obviously. Why didn't Naruto stay with Minato-san to begin with if that was his father? Why was he sent to live with Iruka-sensei?"

"Why didn't you stay with yours?" Kakashi asked.

I was confused with his question. Kakashi got up as he offered me his hand. "Why don't you go check around your house and the people close to him" Kakashi told me as he offered me a book before he left.

Looking at the book in my hands, it was a book about hand-knitted gloves.

**XxXxXxXxX**

I was doing the chores in the house as the rest of guys went to help Hikaru pack and move into the extra room in our house. I heard the front door open as I saw Neji.

"Welcome home Neji-kun" I said with a smile as I went up to him. Neji offered a small smile back as he patted my head.

"Where are the others?" Neji asked as he took off his shoes and placed them neatly at the door.

"About that, we need to talk" I said as I took a deep breath. Before I could talk, the door behind me opened as someone came and hugged me from behind.

"Father is home!" Hikaru said. I stood in the middle awkwardly as Neji was glaring at Hikaru. Naruto and the others were behind Hikaru as Shikamaru sighed.

"How troublesome"

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**Hey everyone. I know I haven't updated in a while. I was so busy. Those that are a senior, or were, can understand. But I finally found the time to sit down and write. Joining the story now is Hikaru. As you guys noticed from Ino, I lowered the guys for Sakura. And if you had been paying close attention to my story, you would notice who the top two is. *SMILES* Tell me what you guys think of the story so far or if you have any ideas you want me to add. Thank you for being patient and waiting for me to update. Until next time.**

**-Kumiko**


	14. Happy Birthday ShikaIno

**Hey everyone! Let's just go straight to the story. (smiles)**

**Sakura Kiss**

I looked at Neji who was sending death glares at Hikaru. I immediately got out of Hikaru's embrace as I went to talk to Neji.

"Who is this guy?" Neji growled.

"That's what I was going to talk to you about" I said in a calm voice. "He's a family friend of mine. He's going to be staying here for a while until his parents come back."

"Why can't he stay in his home? He's old enough" Neji said. His protective tone was coming out.

"His mother wants me to watch over him. I owe her." I told him. "It's either he stays here with us or-"

"Sakura goes and stays with him at his house" Shino said. "Just the two of them…**alone**"

I felt Neji pull me close to his chest as he rested his chin on top of my head.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing to Sakura-chan, you pervert!" Naruto and Hikaru shouted as they pointed their finger at Neji. Naruto looked at Hikaru irritated.

"Don't copy me bastard!" Naruto frowned.

"As long as you're going to be staying with us…" Neji said as he looked at Hikaru. "You will not touch her like this" Neji began to demonstrate with me much to the dislike of everyone else. "Or this" He said bring his hands to my waist. I began to blush at his touch. "Or this..." He said bringing his hands close to my chest.

"He gets it!" Everyone said as Shino pulled me away from him and put me on his shoulders.

"I always knew that guy was a pervert!" Naruto said. "Taking advantage of Sakura-chan like that"

"Boyfriend number 3?" Hikaru asked with a smirk.

I blushed as I shook my head. "Like I told you before, these are my sons and I'm their mother."

"So you weren't joking about it when I saw you and pineapple boy here at the mall that one time!" Hikaru said as he nodded his head. "I understand now!"

"Pineapple boy?" Shikamaru repeated a bit ticked off.

"This is Shino Aburame." I said patting Shino's head. "The blond one is Naruto Uzumaki. The one with the pineapple hair style is Shikamaru Nara. The pale one is Sai Sakamoto. The one with long hair is Neji Hyuga and the one with the chicken's ass for hair is Sasuke Uchiha." I was still mad at him. Sasuke glared at me as I glared back.

I signaled Shino to put me back down as I led Hikaru to his room.

"You're lucky. You have the famous Student Council living with you and protecting you." Hikaru said as he dropped his stuff in front of the bed. "It's like you're a princess in your own little kingdom."

I smiled. Hikaru was kind of right. I was like a princess in my own little kingdom, a wild kingdom that is.

"You know he seems like he really cares about you. So why are you two fighting?" Hikaru soon asked me.

"Huh? Who?" I asked confused. That's when it clicked. "Oh, he's just being stupid. He said he doesn't like you and doesn't want me to be around you. He acts like he's my boyfriend or something. I mean geez, seriously? Who does he think he is telling me I can't hang out with you?!"

Hikaru just stared at me for a few minutes. "I see"

"What?" I asked confused. He just smiled at me before shaking his head.

"It's nothing to worry your little pretty head" Hikaru said as he looked at the door behind me. Then out of nowhere, he wrapped his left hand around my waist and pulled me close to him as he covered my mouth with his right hand and kissed the back of his hand.

"Get away from her" Sasuke said coming into the room and pulling me away from Hikaru. He pushed me behind him as Sai came and held me.

"What do you think you're doing to my s-?" Naruto stopped himself. "To my Sakura-chan!"

"Your Sakura-chan?!" I questioned, glaring at Naruto. He sent me a smile.

"Everyone get out of the room!" I said.

"But Sakura-chan…" Naruto began to say.

"Out"

"He's going to be perverted again once we leave!"

"**NOW!**" I shouted. The guys' eyes widened as they immediately left the room.

"AND YOU!" I shouted looking at Hikaru. He looked like a sad puppy. "What the hell was that about?!"

"I saw Uchiha come in and I thought it would be fun to piss him off" Hikaru smirked.

I rolled my eyes. These guys were wearing me out. "I'm going to me room" I said tired.

Once I got to my room, I rested my head on the soft mattress and rested my eyes a bit. A couple minutes later, there was a knock on my door.

"Come in" I said. The door opened to reveal Shino with a tray. There was a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

"Hey Shino-kun" I said.

"Are you alright Sakura-san?" Shino asked me.

"I'm fine. Just tired" I said as I closed my eyes again. I could hear Shino setting the tray on the side table before leaving the room. I had fallen asleep right after. I woke up a few hours later as I saw my room dark. Looking at the clock, it was around 8. I couldn't believe I skipped dinner. Heading downstairs, I could hear everyone in the living room.

"Sakura-chan is mad at us" Naruto cried.

"Stop crying" Sasuke said hitting Naruto in the head.

"Maybe we're being overprotective" Shikamaru said. "Hikaru is her family friend after all. What right do we have saying she can't hang out with him."

"Thanks Shikamaru" Hikaru said.

"Hn" Sasuke said. "I'm going out" I watched as Sasuke walked out of the house.

"That guy will never like me" Hikaru said with a frown.

"Don't worry about Sasuke" Naruto told Hikaru. "That guy is just jealous because he wants Sakura-chan all to himself. You see Sasuke is really conservative. The only person he lets into his world is me, of course, since I'm his best friend! But recently, he's been letting Sakura in and it scares him that he might lose her to you"

My eyes widened when I heard this. I felt bad for what I said to Sasuke before. But that didn't give him the right to act like an ass to Hikaru, right? I sighed as I went back to my room to work on Shikamaru's and Ino's presents as well as others.

**XxXxXxX**

I woke up around 5 to get breakfast ready. I felt a headache coming as I massaged my temples for a bit. It was probably due to the lack of sleep I've been getting this week for working on the presents. I decided to make bacon and eggs.

"Good morning!" Hikaru said entering the kitchen a couple minutes later.

"Hey…" I said weakly.

Hikaru had a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You seem a bit pale. Not as pale as Sai but still pale." Hikaru said.

"I'll be fine. The weekend starts tomorrow anyways." I said as I finished cooking eggs and put it on the plate.

"I'll help you set up the table" Hikaru offered. I shook my head.

"No, it's fine. I got everything" I said. I wanted to do everything myself. I didn't want to be a burden to anyone since I was their mother.

"If you say so" Hikaru said as he went to change for school. After I finished the bacon, I quickly went to set the table. Neji came down already in his comfortable clothes.

"Good morning Sakura-san" Neji greeted me.

"Good morning" I said a bit out of it.

Neji raised an eyebrow at me. "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" I said. Did I really look out of it? It was probably from staying up late these past few weeks. Their birthday was this weekend after all. I soon noticed that he wasn't dressed up for school.

"I don't have school today" Neji said. "So I'll be dropping during the council meeting"

I smiled. "I finally get to hang out with you at school"

Neji gave me a small smile as he ruffled my hair. I noticed he liked to do that a lot. "You act like we never hang out, shorty"

"Because we don't. The only time I get to see you are when I get back from school and the weekends. I feel like we're not as close as I am to everyone else."

"This Monday, I'll treat you out to dinner then. Since it's early day for you guys anyways"

My eyes widened. A date with Neji? I mentally shook my head. He's my son. I couldn't think that way.

"Okay" I said. "I'll go get ready for school then. Do you mind waking up the boys for me?"

Neji nodded as I went to my room and closed the door behind me. As I was getting dressed, I felt a stunning pain in my head as the room moved for a bit. I clutched my head as I fell to my knees. The thump must have caught someone's attention because a few seconds later, I heard knocking on my door.

"Sakura?" It was Shikamaru. My eyes widened as I saw his gift on the bed. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine" I struggled to say. I immediately grabbed the gift and shoved it under the bed.

"What was that thump?" It was Sai in the hall.

"It was Sakura. I think she fell or something in her room" Shikamaru said.

The door opened as I quickly sat on the floor, looking as innocent as I could be. Shikamaru and Sai raised their eyebrows at me.

"Are you alright?" They asked me.

"I'm good" I smiled as big as I could and gave them a thumb up. That seemed to have freaked them out more.

"She's so weird" I heard Sai comment before walking away.

"If you say so" Shikamaru said as he closed the door. I soon let out the breath I was holding as I laid back on my bed. Man that was a close one. Soon the door opened again, as Hikaru entered the room and glomped me.

"Oh geez! What is it, Hikaru?" I asked.

He just flashed his bright smile at me. "Let's hold hands to school!"

**XxXxXxXxX**

When we got to school, everyone stared at us. It wasn't awkward holding hands with Hikaru. The thing that was awkward was my sons' scary aura behind us. It was like they were controlling themselves from killing Hikaru right on the spot.

"Are you feeling better now?" Hikaru asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine" Actually, I really wasn't. I didn't want anyone to worry.

"Well if there's anything I can do, tell me okay" Hikaru said. "I don't want you overworking yourself"

"Thanks Hikaru" I said with a smile.

"S-Sakura-chan" A timid voice called out for me. I turned and grinned. I saw Hinata coming up to me.

"Good morning Hinata-chan" I said as I hugged her. I soon noticed someone wasn't here. "Where's Ino-pig?" I questioned. Ino would usually be walking with Hinata. Something was wrong.

"She's called me earlier this morning and said she couldn't make it to school today." Hinata said.

I frowned. Why did she call me? Soon my phone that Kakashi lent me rang. "Hello?"

"_*cough* Hey *cough-cough* Forehead-girl"_

I rolled my eyes. That was fake! But why would she fake being sick?

"Are you okay?" I decided to play along.

"_I'm just a little bit under the weather" _She said. _"INO-CHAN" _I heard Mr. Yamanaka's voice in the background. _"Are you ready to go? The meeting is in an hour!"_

I raised an eyebrow as I heard Ino cuss as soon as Ino's dad talked. _"Got to go now. See you later, Sakura"_

"But I-"Ino hung up as I sighed. What was going on?

"Is Ino okay?" It was Shikamaru who asked. I smiled. Maybe he did like her.

"She's feeling sick" I said.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru muttered. "That girl is probably going to ask me to help her with her homework or something when she gets back"

I studied Shikamaru's face. Even though he sounded a bit annoyed, I saw his lips form a small smile.

School went by very fast; probably because it was Friday. I soon went to the student council meeting with Shino once 6th period ended.

"I wonder what the meeting is going to be about" I said.

"We're going to be talking about what events we're going to have at school. Such as the school dances, festivals, plays, etc." Shino informed me.

I was excited. These were going to be my first school dances, festivals, and plays!

The meeting lasted for an hour as I asked Shikamaru to go get our notes photo copied. I soon used this time to talk to everyone. At this time, I couldn't breathe properly.

"Okay, tomorrow around lunch time, we are going to celebrate Shikamaru's birthday" I said happily.

"Shikamaru's birthday is tomorrow?" Naruto asked.

The brothers didn't know? "Um, yeah. September 22 right?"

"Yeah, it is" Neji said as he came into the green house.

"Hyuga" Sasuke said with a bit of acknowledgement.

"Uchiha" He responded.

"Neji-kun" I smiled.

"Hey pinky" He said as he ruffled my hair once again. The action made my head hurt as I began to feel dizzy.

"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Naruto said as he held my face worried. It was hard to keep my head up and my eyes open.

"Sakura-san, you look like you're going to collapse." Shino said.

"I'm fine." I said as I backed away from everyone. Things began to get white as I took another step back.

"You idiot!" Sasuke said as he got up and tried to catch me as I took too much of a step and began to fall back on the steps.

I felt someone else catch me from behind as he broke my fall. "Sakura" the voice said. It was Shikamaru's. I closed my eyes as darkness took over me.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"How is she, Shizune?" Neji asked. Everyone was at the nurse's room. Luckily, Shizune was still in there. Naruto had Sakura in his arms as he laid her down on one of the beds. Shizune soon checked up on her afterwards.

"She's so tired that her body shut down on her. This is due to overstress and/or lack of sleep." Shizune analyzed. "Do you guys know anything about what could cause this?" She pulled the curtains to block the boys' very of Sakura.

"Well...she has been doing most of the chores at home. She even let go of the maids and butlers…" Sai muttered.

"She's done all the cooking…" Shino said.

"She's been helping me with my homework…" Naruto pouted.

"She has her own homework as well…" Sasuke said.

"She also has the mother goals you gave her…" Shikamaru said.

"She's been signing papers for their school and my school…" Neji frowned

"And she's been staying up every night to work on Shikamaru's and Ino's birthday present and planning your party" Hikaru said. Everyone looked to see him leaning on the door as he looked at Sakura with a frown. "I told her not to overwork herself."

"Birthday present…?" Shikamaru repeated.

"That was her fourth mother goal" Shizune explained.

"Why didn't she just go and buy them?" Naruto asked.

"With this goal, it had to be hand-made" Shizune said. "I heard from Kakashi that she was really excited to do this goal. And since she spent so much time on it, that means she put a lot of love into it."

Shikamaru was silent for a bit as he stared at where Sakura laid. A smile formed on his face. "That girl, she's so troublesome"

**XxXxXxXxX**

When I woke up, I found myself in my room. Looking at the clock, it was 11 in the morning. I screamed as I quickly got out of bed. I had to set up the party! I couldn't believe I overslept. I ran out of my door, only to be stopped by a hug from a boy with red hair and jade eyes.

"Gaara-kun?" I said surprised to see him here. You guys probably thought I was talking about Hikaru, huh?

"I heard from Naruto that you collapsed yesterday. So the whole gang got the party you were planning ready." Gaara said.

"The whole gang?" I questioned. Gaara led me to the living room to see balloons everywhere. In the kitchen, Chouji, Kiba, Naruto, and Hinata were preparing the food. Tenten and Lee were setting the tables. Kankuro and Temari had left to pick up Ino. Naruto soon informed me that Sasuke, Sai, and Shino had left to buy a cake. Neji was currently training with Shikamaru in the dojo while everyone else was preparing the party inside.

"B-But how did Naruto know that I was planning a party for Shikamaru and Ino?" I asked.

"I told them yesterday" Hikaru sang. "I got your presents wrapped up. But honestly, you made way too many for just two people. There's like seventeen of them"

"Nope, I made just about right" I smiled. That caused everyone to give me a weird look. I then went into my room as I changed.

After an hour or two, Shikamaru came into the house as he went to take a shower and change. We had turned off the lights and stayed silent. Neji seemed to notice us but distracted Shikamaru as he took went to take a shower in his own room.

Sasuke and the others soon came into the house with the cake as we put it in the fridge. I soon signaled Naruto and Neji to blindfold Shikamaru.

"What are you two doing?" Shikamaru asked.

"You'll see" Naruto grinned.

At that time, I heard Temari's car honk, telling us that Ino was here.

"What's going on?!" We heard Ino say as they got to the front door. Ino was also blindfolded. Shino opened the door for them as Sai turned on the lights. On the count of 3, we took the blindfolds off the two as their eyes widened.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" We all cheered.

"T-This is for me?" Ino said surprised.

"This was all your idea huh?" Shikamaru said as he looked at me.

"Yeah…" I said a bit embarrassed.

Ino immediately glomped me as she kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you so much Forehead-girl!" Ino said happily. "You're the best sister-like best friend in the whole wide world!"

"Thank Sakura!" Shikamaru said as he gave me a hug. "This really made my day."

"Really? I'm glad!" I told the two

Everyone soon began to eat and chat with each other as music was playing in the background.

"It's time to cut the cake!" Temari cheered as Tenten and I pulled out the cake.

Shikamaru and Ino both came and looked at each other.

"Um…" Ino began to say.

"Why don't we just cut it together?" Shikamaru said with a smile. Ino smiled back shyly as she nodded. Shikamaru came behind her as he held her hand and helped her cut the cake. Shizune was quickly taking pictures. The scene was just too cute for words.

"The two birthday people should give each other a kiss!" Kiba joked.

Shikamaru and Ino blushed.

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru said. Ino frowned a bit, but it quickly disappeared as she put on a forced smile.

"We don't have to if you don't want to" Ino said.

"It's okay. We know it's just a friendly kiss." Shikamaru said. "Nothing serious."

"Yeah, nothing serious…" I heard Ino's voice crack. For a guy who supposedly had an IQ of 200, he sure was stupid when it came to girls, especially Ino.

Everyone watched as the two friends kissed as everyone cheered. Shikamaru pulled away as he soon went to Chouji. Ino was in a daze. I came up to her and laced her hand with mine and gave it a little squeeze. She smiled at me.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

"Yeah, I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up with that kiss. We're just close family friends, that's it." She said. It sounded like she wanted to cry.

"Let's open presents now!" Ino shouted out of nowhere. I jumped at the change of her mood.

Shikamaru and Ino opened their presents together. Shikamaru had received clothes, money, and books while Ino received clothes, money, and makeup stuff. It soon came down to my presents. Hikaru passed me the bag that had all the presents. I soon put them on the floor.

"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed. "That's a lot of presents Sakura-chan. It's not Christmas!"

"I know" I smiled as I handed everyone a gift.

"What's all this?" Kankuro asked me as everyone gave me the same expression.

"I made these all for you to show you my gratitude for all you've done for me." I said with a smile.

Ino and Shikamaru opened their presents to reveal a knitted set of mittens, a scarf, and a beanie in green and the same in purple. I scooted next to Ino and told her to flip the scarf. Towards the end, I knitted the word: ShikaIno. Ino blushed as she thanked me.

Gaara and his siblings opened their presents. Gaara had a jade scarf, Kankuro had a beige one, and Temari's was a navy blue. Hinata and Hikaru opened theirs. Hinata got a lavender scarf while Hikaru got a black one. Tenten and Lee opened theirs to see Tenten got a pink scarf and Lee got a red one. Kiba and Chouji opened their and saw that Kiba got a gray one and Chouji got a golden yellow one.

I soon looked at my sons, who still hadn't opened theirs yet. Neji was the first to open his. He got a snow white scarf with matching mittens and beanie. Sasuke opened his next, and got the same thing, but in royal blue. His eyes widened when he saw I had put his family crest on the bottom. Shino opened his and had gotten a dark teal set. Sai opened his next and got one in black and white. Naruto opened his quickly and saw that his set was in orange.

"Why do they get them? It's not their birthday!" Ino joked.

"Shut up" Temari said. "It just shows that Sakura loves me."

"Sorry to burst your dream but she loves me the most!" Naruto grinned. He noticed that his brothers were glaring at him. "Uh…I mean us"

I rolled my eyes. This was ridiculous.

"S-Sorry Naruto-kun, but at least I love her the most" Hinata said as she shyly smiled at me. Naruto's mouth dropped as everyone laughed.

"Aw, Hinata-chan!" I said as I hugged her.

"Hey! I love her the most" Ino said as she came into hug me.

"No I do" Temari and Tenten said as they also joined in on the hug feast.

"No! I love Sakura-san the most!" Lee said as he joined. Soon Gaara and the others joined. The only people that stayed out of the hug were Sasuke, Neji, and Shino.

"Why are you three joining?" Shizune asked as she was taking more pictures.

"We don't do hugs" They answered.

"Enough, un!" A voice said. Everyone stopped as they saw Deidara standing in front of the pile.

"Who let you in?" Sasuke asked.

"Kakashi-sensei, un." Deidara grinned. Kakashi sweat dropped when he saw Sasuke glare at him.

"Happy birthday, Ino!" He greeted his cousin. "Anyways, everyone knows Sakura loves me the most, un!" I felt Deidara lift me up in the air. He soon gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"What did I say about flirting with my best friend?!" Ino shouted as she tried to kick Deidara out of the house. Ino soon grabbed me into a hug.

"Everyone knows I love Sakura the most, so shut up" Ino said as she and I laughed.

"If you do love Sakura the most…" Deidara began to say. "…then tell her before I do"

I watched as Ino's smile turned upside down.

What was Ino hiding from me?

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**So much happened in just one chapter! Just what's up with Ino? What are the cousins hiding from everyone? It also seems like Hikaru has plans of his own that deal with Sakura. If you guys have anyone in mind that you want me to put in the story, don't be hesitant to tell me. I'd love to hear your ideas. Please continue to wait till my next chapter. Anyways, has anyone seen the latest chapter of Naruto? SPOILER: OMG! ITACHI APPEARED! *fangirl scream* Although, it might be a genjutsu TT_TT. **


	15. Love Is Troublesome

**I finally updated this story! I know I haven't been updating as quickly as I have done in the past. I just moved to a new house and haven't had internet till now and school has been putting tons of homework, tests, and projects in my path. Not to mention also drama with people. **

"_**THANK YOU FOR RUINING MY SENIOR YEAR BITCHES!"-**_** Inner Kumiko**

***ahem* sorry about that! **** But here's a present for you guys for being so patient, i updated Sakura Kiss, Sakura no Akuma, and Gomenasai!**** Anyhoo, let's go on with the story. I hope you all like it.**

**Disclaimer: **Sadly I don't own Naruto or else Sakura would have acted like a ninja every chance she got. Damn it! I WANT TO SEE SASUKE AND SAKURA FIGHT! PLEASE KISHIMOTO! Let Sakura throw in a couple charka filled punches, deadly kicks, etc. I just want Sasuke to get his ass whooped for once.

**Sakura Kiss**

It was a Sunday. Ino's and Shikamaru's birthday party yesterday became awkward after what Deidara said. Ino began to give a forced smile out for the whole night while Shikamaru would keep looking at her as if trying to figure out what she was hiding. Trying to find things out myself, I went to the Youthful Café today.

"Sakura-san!" Lee cheered as he ran up to hug me, but Gaara beat him to it.

"Good morning Sakura." Gaara said as he clung on to my arm. He was so cute! Like a little panda!

"Sakura-chan." Hinata said softly as she went to hug me.

"Well, look who finally comes here to visit!" Kankuro said as he patted my head. He was right. I haven't been stopping by lately due to my new family and mother goals.

"Nice to see you too, Kankuro." I said as I rolled my eyes. I looked around the café to see all my friends working except for one person. "Where's Ino?" I asked.

"She didn't show up today." Tenten said a bit annoyed as she leaning onto her broom. "She could have at least called us. Now I have to take her shift!"

"She didn't show up?" I asked.

"Is there something bothering you, cherry?" Temari asked me with my nickname in the past.

"You don't think something bad is going on with Ino-chan?!" Hinata asked.

"Girls! Time to do what we known for!" I said looking at Tenten and Temari.

"I thought you guys left that life?" Gaara asked.

"We're not going to do anything like _that_!" Temari grinned.

"Just a little breaking in and entering." Tenten had a similar grin to Temari's.

"B-but Sakura-chan, you-"Hinata began to say, worried. Only Hinata, Temari, Tenten, Gaara, Kankuro, and Ino knew what my life was before and they swore to keep it a secret. But only Temari, Tenten, and Gaara knew how it felt to go through what I went through.

"Don't worry Hinata. I promised I wouldn't go through that again remember. Besides, this is for Ino-pig." I comforted her. I soon turned to Tenten. "Do you still have your old things?"

"Of course." Tenten said. It was decided that we would meet at my old house at Konoha Park. Everyone else was puzzled with confusion.

**XxXxXxXxX**

The coast was clear. It was dinner time and I had already prepared the meal for the guys and left it at the table. I could hear them already eating. Dressed up in a black long sleeve shirt and black skinny jeans, I was placing my black beanie over my hair. I was almost out the door when…

"Where are you going, Sakura-chan?" I froze in spot. Coming downstairs was Naruto.

"I'm going to a party with Tenten and Temari." I faked a smile. Naruto looked at me head to toe before smiling.

"Is there a party theme?" Naruto asked.

I let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah!"

"Oh, okay. Have fun!" Naruto said as he headed to the kitchen.

I ran out the door feeling bad for lying to him. He trusted me so much.

Right as I closed the door behind me, I was shocked to see someone sneaking out of their bedroom from the second floor. Shikamaru Nara was slowly sliding down from his tied shirts, sheets, and whatever else he used as a rope.

"Shikamaru…." I said not amused.

Shikamaru jumped as he fell to the ground. I sweat dropped as I watched him curse. Surprisingly, he too was dressed up all in black.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"How troublesome…" He muttered as he got up and dusted himself off. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm going out." I said.

Shikamaru looked at me with a straight face. "You look like you're about to break into someone's house."

Oh yeah! This was Shikamaru Nara, the future strategist for Konoha's military army. You can never lie to him without getting caught. This guy was a freaking genius! It makes me wonder though, why he couldn't tell that Ino was in love with him. I ignored him as I made a phone call to Temari. "Hey, I just left the house."

I let Temari talk for a bit.

"Yeah, just go inside. It's fine."

Silence.

"Got it." I said as I hung up the phone and put it inside the pocket of my pouch that was tied around my waist.

"Let me go with you." Shikamaru said as he grabbed my arm.

"W-What?" I said shocked. "You don't even know where I'm going!"

"I know it has something to do about Ino and about what her cousin said yesterday." He said.

Holy cow! He was good, really good!

"Fine! But you do what I say! Got it?" I said as I crossed my arms.

"Troublesome woman…" Shikamaru muttered under his breath. After a couple minutes of walking, we made it to the park.

"Why are we at the homeless area?" Shikamaru asked.

"We're here to visit my house. It's the meeting spot." I said with a smile. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but said nothing further as he followed me to this large box under a tree. "I'm home!" I said happily as I entered the box. I saw Temari and Tenten already inside.

"What is Nara doing here?" Temari asked.

"He's worried about Ino." I said. Tenten smiled as she patted the area next to her to signal Shikamaru to sit down. I was a bit embarrassed to have Shikamaru see where I used to live. Tenten and Temari used to kick it a lot here back in the days, so I was used to them in here.

"Wow…" was all he said.

"So this meeting to figure out what Barbie is hiding from us!" Temari said as she took out a map. Shikamaru glared at Temari for the nickname. "Through connections and maybe a little threat, I was able to get a blueprint of the Yamanaka Mansion." Tenten soon took out ten sharpies.

"I will represent pink." Tenten said. "Sakura is red, Temari is yellow, Shikamaru will be green, and Ino will be purple." Tenten and Temari soon looked up at me for the plan.

"Okay here's the plan!" I said. "I know the Yamanaka family and the routine around the house like the back of my palm. Knowing Ino, she'll be in her room doing her typical girly things." I said drawing a purple star on the map where Ino's room was. Tenten and Temari shuddered. They were the tomboys of the group. "Ino is hiding something she doesn't want anyone else to know. And if she knows me as well as I think she does, she'd know I'd go sneak into her house to find out. So she'd hire her guards to secure every entrance."

Using a silver sharpie, I marked where all the guards would be at. "Her bedroom is right in the middle of the house on the fourth floor. The toughest area would be the front gates of course. So Tenten, I want you to go over the east gate and sneak inside the kitchen and climb up the chute up to the fourth floor without getting caught. Once you get there, I need you to gather the guards on the east side away from Ino's room."

"Got it Boss!" Tenten said as she saluted me.

"Temari!" I looked at her next as she looked at me attentively. "You are to sneak into the butlers' and maids' chambers and take one of their outfits as a disguise. You can casually walk around and meet up with Shikamaru on the North gate. Knock out any guard in your way since they might remember his face. He is after all Ino's childhood best friend and must have come over a lot."

"Yes!" Temari said.

"Shikamaru, are you still down for this?" I asked him.

"I want to help Ino any way I can." He answered. I smiled.

"Alright!" I said looking at my clock next to my panda money bank. "Tenten, did you bring the things we need?"

"Of course!" She smiled. "I even brought the masks from back in the days." She handed Temari a mask that represented a dog, Tenten's mask represented a monkey, and then she gave me the mask that brought back so much memories. In fact, the blood stains were still there. Mine was different from the others. Mine was customized to fit what I was known for. I was a bit hesitant to wear it and the girls can see it.

"It's not like you're joining them again." Temari said giving me a small nudge on my arm.

"Yeah!" Tenten said. "We made sure of that."

"I know…" I said. "But it just doesn't feel right to wear it."

"I understand." Tenten said as she took the masks away. Shikamaru looked confused but didn't say anything.

"So that just leaves me with the South gate." I said as I rolled up the blueprint.

"But that's where most of the guards will be at!" Shikamaru said, not understanding my plan.

"Just watch the pro in action!" I grinned as I made a phone call to the Hyuuga Mansion.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"S-S-Sakura-chan, t-this doesn't feel right!" Hinata said blushing as she was wearing a bunny costume. (**A/N: **_**the costume she wore on that Naruto Shippuden Extra**_**)**

"You said you wanted to help Ino, didn't you?" I asked.

"Y-yes, but…" Hinata said holding on to one of her bunny ears. This girl was too cute for words.

"You just need to distract the guards for a few minutes as I climb up the gates." I said handing her a basket of carrots.

"I-If this is to help you and Ino-chan, then okay." Hinata said with a shy smile as she took a large breath. I quickly went to my position as I talked to my microphone. "Bunny act is a go!"

I watched amused as Hinata shyly walked by the guards as she 'tripped' on something while the carrots fell to the ground.

"O-Oh my!" Hinata said as she went to pick them up. I swear the guards were having massive nosebleeds. Hinata went to pick up one carrot as she put it in her basket, but one would always fall out. As the perverted guards were distracted, I quickly climbed the wall with the rope I thrown over. The anchor clung onto the top of the gates as I made it over with a graceful landing.

"_I'm in!" _Tenten said.

"I am too!" I said as I quickly went to the porch and jumped on the roof on the first floor.

"_I just brought Nara in."_ Temari announced.

"Good job!" I said to my team. "Shikamaru, dress up as one of the butlers. Distract the guards if you have to."

I balanced myself on top of the roof as I looked at the balcony on the third floor. The doors were opened which would make it easy for me to sneak in. Using my rope again, I threw it onto the third floor as it grabbed onto its target. Testing the rope for security, I began to crawl up the rope. My eyes widened when I saw Mrs. Yamanaka come and closed the door. CURSES! Landing safely on the third balcony, I looked for any way to get in. I looked at the balcony which belonged to Ino's. The doors were opened! I did the same thing again and climbed up. On the way up, I stopped when I heard Ino and her dad come outside.

"Ino-chan! I don't like your behavior!" Her dad scolded her.

"How could you!" Ino yelled as she threw a flower pot at him. "I hate you!"

I stayed quiet. I was about to find out what was wrong with Ino!

"This will help us out with the bankrupt we might be facing. Do you want us to end up on the streets? How would we live?" Her father asked us.

"Sakura was able to do that for years! Look at her now, dad! She's perfectly fine, physically and mentally!" She shouted.

"But that time when she was a-"

"I would have done the same thing if all that shit happened to me! You don't know her like I do, so don't talk about her like you know her at all! You never wanted to get to know her! You thought she was bad for me! But you're wrong father! She helped me become who I am now. If it wasn't for her, I would have killed myself a long time ago!" Ino screamed.

I closed my eyes as I remembered that time. The time no one ever wanted to bring up.

"So she helped you become a bitch, like herself?" Her father asked. My mouth dropped and Ino's mouth dropped as well.

"DON'T. EVER. CALL. HER. THAT!" She said as she slapped her dad across the face. "You don't know what she went through!" Ino growled.

"I saw what she has done! I was there when she-"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Ino stomped her foot on the ground. "LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M NOT GOING THROUGH WITH THIS STUPID MARRIAGE ARRANGEMENT!" I almost lost my grip on the ropes. Ino was getting married?

"You are getting out of control!" Mr. Yamanaka said as he slapped her in the face. I heard Ino spit at her father's face.

"I DON'T CARE IF I'M POOR! AS LONG AS I'M THE WITH PEOPLE LOVE, WHAT MORE DO I NEED?" Ino screamed.

"Love!" Mrs. Yamanaka said as she broke up the fighting people. "Let's just talk about this another time. Come on, I made you some tea."

I heard Mr. Yamanaka growl but walk away as he shut the doors behind him. Ino let out a frustrated scream before crying. I heard her run into her room and onto her bed. I sighed as I climbed over the balcony as I knocked on the door. Ino looked up from her pillows and was shocked to see me there.

"Forehead-girl?" Ino said astonished.

"Hey…" I said a bit awkward after hearing all that.

"I had a feeling you'd come by soon. So I guess you were too smart for the guards." Ino said faking a smile.

"Ino…" I began to say as I walked up to her.

"How much did you hear?" She asked.

"Everything when you and your dad came outside. How long has this been going on?" I asked her calmly.

"It's been a few weeks now…" She answered as she raised a pillow to her chin.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, upset that she would hide something like this from me.

"You would be mad at my father. I wanted you two to finally get along, but as you probably heard, he still doesn't approve of you as my best friend." Ino said as she held on to my hand.

"Your dad is just worried about you. He loves you a lot. I can tell, even if you can't." I assured her. "So who's the guy?"

"His name is Haru. The guy isn't bad. He's really cute. He's very athletic. He's the star player in his soccer team. His family is really rich and he has a really nice personality. Our parents are good friends. He's a perfect match for me as everyone says. There's only one problem…" She said as she leaned her head onto my shoulder.

I watched as she closed her eyes and tears began to fall down her cheeks. "The only problem is that he's not Shikamaru." I finished for her. I heard her choke back a sob as she cleaved on to me. "Oh Ino…"

"That idiot!" She cried on my tummy. "H-How can he not see that I love him so much? We had a chance to get engaged when we were younger, but he said that he couldn't see me like that and denied the marriage arrangement. His parents didn't want to force him to do things he didn't want to do, but they really wanted us to be together. So they kept pushing the marriage on to us to the point where Shikamaru got angry and ripped the marriage papers right in front of me and our parents. He announced that he'd never want to get married to me and that we were better off as friends."

"You loved Shikamaru that long, huh?" I said as I rested my chin on her head and made circles on her back. I felt her nod her head.

"Yeah, but Haru has been in loved with me that long as well. In fact, Haru used to play with Shikamaru, Chouji, and me as well. I don't know what to do. Shikamaru doesn't even love me and Haru's parents want us to marry before October 13."

She was wrong. I saw the way Shikamaru looked at her or when he talks to her or about her. That guy was in love with her just as much as she was in love with him if not more. So what was stopping them, besides this arranged marriage?

"P-Please don't say anything to the others." Ino pulled away as she wiped her tears away. "I don't want to tell them until the marriage is official. I have no other choice than to go through with it."

"There is a choice!" I said.

"And what's that?" Ino asked.

"Have Shikamaru stop the wedding!" I said, being optimistic.

"Don't be ridiculous," Ino said. "That lazy ass would be too lazy to even go to his own damn wedding."

"Then I'll object at the wedding and take you away for myself!" I joked.

"Oh gosh, forehead-girl! I can just see what they'd write on the tabloids. 'Yamanaka Heiress elopes with Heiress of the Haruno family! Was the best friend relationship just a way to hide their true feelings for each other?!" Ino laughed as she seemed to have gotten out of her depressed mood.

"What do you like the most about Shikamaru?" I asked. Ino was about to answer when we heard knocking on the door.

"Sakura? Ino?" Tenten called out.

"Come in." Ino said. Tenten came into the room. Ino and I paled. Was that blood on her shirt?

"Tenten…" I began to say as she let out a nervous laugh.

"We seemed to have gotten ahead of ourselves." Tenten smiled.

"We?" Ino questioned as she looked at me. On cue, Temari and Shikamaru entered the room.

Ino's eyes widened as she just stared at Shikamaru.

"Troublesome woman…" Shikamaru muttered as he walked up to her. Ino closed her eyes getting ready to be scold, but was surprised when Shikamaru moved a few strands of hair from her face. "Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing…" Ino smiled as she slowly leaned into his touch. Whether she did that unconsciously or not, it was a cute scene to see.

We all stayed a couple more minutes as Ino walked us out of her house. I was the last person she gave a hug to as she whispered something in my ear. My eyes widened as she giggled.

"Let's go. Everyone will be wondering where we are." Shikamaru called out to me as he placed his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry for worrying you guys!" Ino said. She sounded a bit happier than before. As Shikamaru and I made it out of the gates, he had a small smile on his face.

"That troublesome woman is always making me worry about her." Shikamaru said. He didn't sound mad about it. Actually, he sounded quite happy that he was able to see her.

I soon remembered what Ino whispered to me only a few minutes ago.

"_I love it when Shikamaru calls me troublesome!"_

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

October came very quickly as I was in the nurse's office with Shizune and Kakashi. The duo had called me out of Genma-sensei's class while he was going over Cellular Metabolism.

"It's time for your next mother goal!" Kakashi said as he flipped the next page of his porn book. I looked at him disgusted.

"We gave you a little break. You should be thankful." Shizune said with a smile.

"Just give it to me already!" I said wanting to get this over with.

"Mother Goal number 5 is to make the Student Council find a way to celebrate Halloween. You are to have all the sons get involved with this." Kakashi said. "And they all must dress up for it!"

"Sounds easy enough!" I said confidently.

Kakashi smirked. "Try to get Sasuke and Neji to go along with this."

"I will." I said taking the challenge. "And when I win, I'll be burning all your porn books in front of you!"

Kakashi's mouth dropped, but then he soon smiled which scared me. "Fine, but if I win…" He came close up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "…you have to go on a date with me."

"WHAT?!" I screamed.

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**I love Kakashi! Who doesn't? Well I finally found time to update my stories. I hoped you guys liked this chapter. You guys wanted me to explain what happened to Ino in this chapter and this was it. Did anyone have a feeling this was the problem or did I take you all by surprise? Bwahahahaha. *Coughs and clears throat* Well please be patient with my next update. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review.**

**-Kumiko**


	16. Cigarettes Is A NO NO In This Household

Hey everyone! I know I've been MIA for a bit. I just had a lot of things going on but I finally found time to update this story. Woo Hoo! Let's party till we're purple LOL. Anyways, let's see where we left off. Oh yes, Kakashi and Sakura made a bet about Halloween and the sons. And did he kiss her on the cheek? Let's see it from there. Hope you enjoy this chapter and please review everyone. It will make me very happy.

**Sakura Kiss**

I stared at my English teacher as if he was growing two heads. Did he just say that I think he said? Turning the color of Sasuke's favorite food, I clutched the cheek Kakashi had pecked.

"What do you think you're doing Hatake?" Shizune asked as she pointed a syringe near his butt. Kakashi sweat dropped but bravely put his arms around me.

"Well, none of the guys are really making a move. So why not?" Kakashi defended himself. "Besides, Sakura-chan here is too cute to let the others take! So I'll have the honor of having Sakura as my girlfriend!"

"Hatake-san! Sakura-chan is only in high school! She's fourteen years your junior!" Shizune said. "She's still a minor!"

"It just makes it more tempting! Forbidden love between the teacher and student. It can be like those shoujos mangas: 7th Period Is a Secret, Chocolate Cosmos, Faster Than a Kiss…shall I continue?" Kakashi said with a smirk. Though, I couldn't see it due to his mask, you could just tell by his voice. "OH and my favorite novels!" He began to pull out his perverted book.

Shizune sighed. "Whatever! Just make sure your actions won't land you in the hospital or here in the nurse's office. Tsunade-sama and I don't want to deal with a bloody pervert!"

"Kakashi-sensei! Stop joking around!" I said pushing him away from me. I looked up and saw him give me a serious face. I gulped.

"I'm not joking Sakura-chan." Kakashi said as his forehead suddenly touched mine. "If the brothers aren't going to do anything, I will."

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" A voice said. The three of us turned around to see Sasuke standing in front of the door. He angrily walked up and hid me from Kakashi's view.

"Hello Sasuke!" Kakashi said happily.

"Don't _'Hello Sasuke!_' me! What were you doing to Sakura?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi smirked. "I declared my undying love for Sakura-chan! Are you jealous?"

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous?!" Sasuke snapped. "We're out of here!" Sasuke grabbed my wrist and took me away from the nurse's office.

"He likes her!" Kakashi smirked. "Tell Tsunade that I will be winning this bet."

"I still think that the one I chose is going to win. The other brothers you two picked won't stand a chance." Shizune smiled.

"We'll see about that." Kakashi said as he looked off into the empty hallway.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Sasuke-kun, let go!" I said as Sasuke continued to pull me around the hallways. It was first period. Why was he outside of class?

"Are you ditching class?!" I asked him as I pinched his cheek.

"The dobe texted me saying that evil duo called you in. He was worried and he had a good reason to!" He snarled. We continued to go up the stairs towards the roof. He stopped after three flights of stairs.

"Sasuke-kun?" I said as I touched his cheek. I felt him lower his forehead to the crook of my neck.

"Damn it…" He said as I felt his hot breath on my skin. I blushed but didn't move. "Why am I so pissed off right now?"

"S-Sasuke-kun?" I said rubbing his cheek with my thumb.

"Did Kakashi-sensei really confessed to you?" He asked.

"Why would you care?" I asked. I thought it was my imagination but I swore I saw a hint of pink on Sasuke's cheeks.

"Hn!" He said as he let go of my wrist, but he still blocked the way to the stairs so I sat down on the top of the steps.

"You really need to expand your vocabulary. Why can't you just tell me how you're feeling! Just acting like this makes me so angry. I'm tired of fighting." I said honestly as I wrapped my arms around my knees and hid my face. I heard him began to walk down the steps. I didn't hear footsteps after a couple minutes. He left me alone already. What an asshole!

"I can't." I heard him say. I looked up to see him at the bottom of the steps. My eyes widened when I saw the pained expression in his eyes. It was like he was holding something deep inside his heart.

"Are you still mad at me?" I asked. I watched as he sighed and walked back up to me. He crouched down and patted my head.

"I'll walk you back to first period." he told me as he lifted me up by my elbow.

"You still didn't answer my question." I said pulling on his arm. It was then I realized how close we were to each other. I couldn't explain what happened, but I could see Sasuke leaning in towards me. My eyes turned into saucers. Sons were not supposed to act this way towards their mother!!!!!

**RINNNNNNNG**

The bell to head to second period rang. I was saved by the bell.

"Let's go pinky!" Sasuke said bringing me out of my thoughts. He was already walking down the stairs. How could he not act like nothing happened a few minutes ago?

Once we made it to the third floor, a flock of girls came and gathered around Sasuke. I was, of course, pushed out of the way. They didn't even notice me standing next to him.

"Oh! Sasuke-kun! Can we walk you to class?" One of the girls asked as she tightened her 'I love Sasuke' headband. Before I fell, strong arms held me. I watched Sasuke's eyes narrow at the person behind me.

"I got you Sakura-chan!"

"Hikaru!" I said surprised as I got to my feet. "What are you doing here?"

"I was on my way to Kurenai-sensei's class, but then I happened to see this beautiful lady in the hallway and decided to walk her to class." Hikaru grinned at me.

"Don't bother! I'll be walking her to class!" Sasuke said as he pushed his way through the fan-girls. Not that they would mind. They would probably brag to their friends about how the School President touched them today. I rolled my eyes at the thought.

"You shouldn't leave your girls like that. So I'll just walk Sakura-chan to class." Hikaru smiled as he held my hand. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as he grabbed my other hand. It was like a tiger versus dragon feeling right now.

"I'll walk with you to class!" A voice said. We all looked to see no other than Shino behind me.

"Thanks!" I said as I skipped up to him.

"I was going to do it!" Hikaru said. Shino said nothing but pulled me to class.

"He likes you, do you know that?" Shino asked.

I shook my head. "He's just messing around. Besides, who would like a girl with a big forehead?"

"I could name nine guys right now." He said it so low that I barely caught it.

"Nine? Really, Shino?" I laughed. I watched as Shino just shrugged.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

The next morning, the student council had to show up to school early to meet up with Jiraiya-sensei. Luckily, I got to leave early because Tsunade-sensei needed something from me.

After knocking the door to her office, I opened it to see a very cute boy standing in front of her. He was tall with a tan complexion. He had chestnut hair and olive green eyes. (**A/N: Imagine Kukai from Shugo Chara as a 17 year old)**

"Ah, Sakura, you're here!" Tsunade smiled at me. "This is Haru Souma. He came back from his soccer tournament a few days ago and is coming back to school. Haru, this is Sakura Haruno. She's the body guard of the student council. She's also in charge of the general affairs."

"It's nice to meet you!" I said.

"Have we met before?" Haru asked me as he tilted his head confused.

"I don't think we have." I answered.

"Well Sakura, I want you to help him catch up with school work. You're the smartest person in this school, so I don't think tutoring him would affect your school work." Tsunade said.

"What about Shikamaru?" I asked.

"He's smart, but he's lazy…" Tsunade sighed.

"Sounds to me like Shikamaru is still the same." Haru chuckled.

"I would have asked Haru's fiancé to come and give him a tour but she's not here yet. So I'll leave that job for you."

After a few minutes, Tsunade kicked us out of her office as I gave Haru a tour of the school. I found out that Haru was homeschooled due to his soccer tournaments. Something in my brain soon began to work. Wasn't Ino's fiancé named Haru? She said Haru was the captain of the soccer team. The Haru next to me was in soccer tournaments.

"You're fiancé wouldn't happen to be Ino Yamanaka, would it?" I asked.

Haru's eyes widened with surprised. "How did you know?" He asked. Before I could answer, we heard the sound of papers and books falling to the ground. Turning my head to the side, I saw no other than Shikamaru Nara.

"Nara? Nara, it's me, Haru! Long time no see! You're still the same as ever!" Haru grinned as he patted Shikamaru hard on the back.

"Nice to see you too…" Shikamaru choked.

"It's been so long and you still look the same!" Haru said as looked at Shikamaru up and down. "I heard you're still lazy as ever!"

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked.

"I came here to spend more time with my fiancé!" Haru smiled. Shikamaru stared at him, to me, and then Haru again, before looking at me surprised.

"You're getting married again?" Shikamaru asked.

Haru and I looked at each other as I blushed. "NO!"

"I'm engaged," Haru said. "…to the lovely Ino Yamanaka!"

"What did you say?" Shikamaru's voice was dark.

"I'm marrying Ino! I've always loved her! It's a dream come true!" Haru was in his own little world to not see Shikamaru turning green with jealousy.

"C-Congratulations…" Shikamaru muttered as he stuck his hands in his pocket and walked away.

"Shikamaru!" I called out but he never stopped. I frowned.

"So he still likes her!" Haru muttered.

"You know? Aren't you two childhood friends? Why are you doing this to him if you know he likes Ino?!" I asked as I put my hand on my hips and glared at him.

"It's not fair. I like her too. When we were little, we'd always compete for her but she'd always choose Shikamaru." Haru said looking out the window. "Even till now..."

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Give me another!" I said as I rested my head on the cool counter of the Youthful café.

"But Sakura-san, you had four already." Lee said worried about me.

"I don't care!" I said. Lee sighed as he gave me another can of coke.

"You know what soda does to you! Besides you hate orange soda and you only drink it when you're upset." Lee said with a frown. "What happened?"

"Love stinks!" I muttered. "If two people like each other so much, what's stopping them?!"

"NO! DID MY SAKURA-SAN FALL IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE?" Lee cried. "OH GAI-SENSEI! I FAILED! I WILL RUN 100 LAPS AROUND THE CITY!"

"Do it after you finish decorating your café, Lee!" I said. He was half way done decorating the place for Halloween. The bell in the front door notified us of a costumer.

"Well, what do you know? It's Billboard-brows!" A voice said. I turned around and frowned. It was Ami, Kasumi, and Karin. I smirked as I saw the injuries Tenten and Temari gave them. Ami was suffering from a broken nose, broken jaw, and black eyes. Kasumi was dealing with two broken feet and a broken arm. She was in a wheelchair. Karin had the least injuries. She just had a broken finger and bruises.

I sighed as I turned back around to face Lee and continue our conversation.

"Don't ignore me, bitch!" Ami said as she grabbed me by the hair and pulled me down to the floor. "You're friends aren't here to protect you anymore. I will return the favor!" I soon heard more people enter the café.

"Don't think we'll bow down to you like the others just because you're in the student council." Ami sneered. "I don't know what black magic you used on our beloved student council, but we'll stop it once and for all."

"How did you get into the student council? We've tried for years to get into the student council while you got in with a snap." Kasumi said.

I looked at Karin who looked away. "Trust me. I didn't want to be in the student council in the first place."

"Psh. Like I'd believe that! I bet you slept with one of the brothers! You little slut!" Ami growled.

"Was it Naruto-sama? He seemed so eager to have you in the Council!" Kasumi said. "Or was it Sasuke-sama?"

"He seems so protective of you!" Ami said. "Or maybe it was Sai-sama! You two did kiss after all!"

My mouth dropped. How did she know about that? I only told Ino! I heard gasp from the front of the café. I looked to see my sons, Hinata, Tenten, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. Looking at Sai, his expression was unreadable.

"Or maybe you did the worse and slept with Kakashi-sensei!" Kasumi said point her finger at me. "He did kiss you on the cheek yesterday during first period!"

"HE DID WHAT?!" Sasuke growled.

"They're with her because she's better than you in multiple levels!" Gaara said as he pushed me behind him. "I'm not going to let you fight and you know why!" Gaara whispered to me. I frowned but I knew he was right.

"What, did she sleep with you too?" Ami asked. Her eyes soon widened when Gaara had twisted her arm behind her back and pushed her to the ground.

"What! How dare you do this to a girl!" Ami screamed.

"Ami!" Karin and Kasumi said as they ran up to her.

"I don't care if you're a girl or not. If you insult Sakura again, I will kill you!" Gaara said he narrowed his eyes at them. He soon stuck his hand out at them.

"W-What else do you want?" Karin asked.

"Give me all the money you have!" Gaara said with a smirk. "And I'll let you live longer."

Karin frowned but handed her purse to Gaara. Kasumi and a crying Ami did the same thing before leaving the café. I watched as Gaara went to the back of the room and opened the curtains to reveal the 10ft jar of money. I smiled as Gaara put the cash he got inside.

"WOW! That's awesome of you guys to do that for Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned.

"L-Lee-san was the one who c-came up with it…" Hinata said. Everyone looked at Lee to see him crying in the corner growing mushrooms.

"Lee, what's wrong?" Tenten asked as she crouched down next to him and tried to soothe him.

"Sa-"Lee cried.

"Sa?" Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Sa-"He choked back a sob.

"What's he crying about this time?" Sasuke asked.

"SAKURA-SAN ISN'T A LIP VIRGIN ANYMORE!!!!" Lee cried. "YOU!" Lee said pointing his finger at Sai. Sai had stopped drawing on his pad and stared at Lee. "How dare you steal Sakura-san's first kiss! I will now run 200 laps!"

Tenten sighed as she bonked Lee in the head. "Just give it up Lee!"

"You're making such a big deal over nothing. Sai wasn't my first kiss." I said crossing my arms.

"WHAT!" Everyone said.

"Who was it Sakura-chan? Who dared to kiss my Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he hugged me.

"Stop hugging her every chance you get!" Sasuke growled as he chopped Naruto across the head.

"You're just jealous that I got to kiss her. I guess you're not so high and mighty."Sai said with a smirk.

"Say that again!" Sasuke said grabbing Sai's collar. "I'll send you to the hospital!"

"It's funny how they don't act like she's their mother." Temari muttered.

"It should be obvious Temari-san." Shino said.

I wasn't able to hear what Shino said, but I saw Temari blushed when he said her name and nodded.

"ENOUGH!" I shouted as I hit them both in the head. "I'm tired. I'm heading home!"

"Wait for me, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he ran to my side. Shino, Neji, Sasuke, and Sai followed suit as the last two were nursing their bumps.

"Where's Shikamaru?" I asked.

"There seems to be something troubling him." Neji said. "I offered to play shogi earlier at the house, but he declined."

"Naruto was worried about you because you never came home after school!" Shino said. "We called Hinata-chan and she said that you were probably at the Café."

I hiccupped due to the cans of soda I had. My cheeks turned pink. My sons looked at me as I let out an embarrassed laugh. "My bad."

"This has been bugging me since Lee said it, but you and Sai kissed?" Neji asked as he glared at Sai.

"YOU BASTARD!" Naruto cried. "How dare you take advantage of Sakura-chan!"

"It was an accident over the summer at the summer home!" I said calmly even though I could feel my cheeks warm up.

"Hm…" Shino began to say. "Did this happen before you asked about Raiko?" Shino said her named in a quieter voice. I blushed at the memory and nodded.

"She took advantage of me!" Sai said in a bored tone. "I woke up to see her hovering all over me." He said with a smirk. "She couldn't help herself to my defenseless self."

"As if!" I screamed.

How dare he! That lying jerk! If I wasn't his mother, I'd punch him into next week. He was the one who pulled me and attacked me in his sleep!

"Who was the guy you kissed before me?" Sai asked.

"I'm done talking!" I said as I waved my hands up in the air.

We finally arrived home to see Hikaru making dinner in the kitchen. "Welcome home, my lovely kids!"

"OH!" I said rushing into the kitchen. "I didn't mean to lack from my duties!"

"It's no problem. You're always busy with school work, your mother goals, and the house work. You should rely on us more than pushing yourself." Hikaru smiled. I smiled back showing him my thanks.

"Where's Shikamaru?" I asked.

Hikaru shrugged. "That guy has been emo for some reason. When we came home from school, he jut locked himself in his room. Neji here tried to play shogi with him, but no response."

I frowned as I marched my way to Shikamaru's room. I knocked on the door a couple times. "Shikamaru! It's Sakura! May I come in?" No response. I turned the knob of the door to see it was locked just like Hikaru said. I saw the guys in the corner of my eye watching me to see what I would do next.

"Shikamaru's pulling a Sasuke!" Naruto joked.

"I bet she's going to pull a bat!" Sai said.

"A bomb." Sasuke joined.

"Sakura-san's going to use her deadly kicks!" Neji said.

"She's going to use her bare hands!" Shino said as he fixed his glasses.

"Go away!" We all heard Shikamaru's voice from the other side.

"What did you say to me?" I growled. Has he no respect for me?

"I said leave me alone. You're so troublesome!" He said.

"Bad move!" I heard Naruto mutter under his breath. I could feel five pairs of eyes looking at me as I heard Hikaru shouting that dinner was ready. Closing my eyes, I brought my left fist back and then let it go. My hand went through the door as I pulled the knob with my right hand and tore the door out of its hinges.

We all found Shikamaru on the ground scared shitless. My mouth dropped at what I saw. Shikamaru's hair was down and he was shirtless. But that's not what surprised me. What surprised me were the cigarette in his mouth and the pack in his hands.

"Oh shit!" I heard Naruto said shocked.

My eye began to twitch as Shikamaru nervously puffed out some smoke in the room.

"**OH HELL NO!" **Inner Sakura screamed.

-

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Bwahahaha! You're in deep shit Shikamaru haha. I know I haven't updated in a while, but school is so troublesome. We're preparing for AP and I'm going through family problems which will probably affect the story haha. Anyhoo, it's obvious that Shikamaru is jealous of Haru and Ino. Now that he found out that Ino's engaged, what will happen? Also I hope you guys now know what the main pairing will be for this story. SaiSakuSasu anyone? What will Sakura's reaction be for catching her son smoking. Someone buy her a Mother's guide for troublesome teens. Please review everyone. I'll try to update as soon as I can. Love you all.

-Kumiko


	17. Listen To My Heart Beat

**Hey everyone! I am back from dead! JK. I know I've been MIA for a while. Just been busy with a lot of stuff and didn't have time to sit down and type. But finally I got the chance too. Everyone's been waiting to see what will happen to Shikamaru and Ino, so let's get started shall we?**

**Sakura Kiss**

Everyone watched anxiously as I walked up to Shikamaru and grabbed the pack of cancer sticks from his hand and mouth.

"All of you go downstairs and eat your dinner!" I said as calm as I could.

"But-"Naruto began to say.

"NOW!" I growled. Naruto yelped in fear as he zoomed down. His brothers followed him right after that. I saw Neji acted as if he was slicing his neck with his index finger. He was signaling Shikamaru that he was dead.

Shikamaru slowly got up and place the broken door against the wall. I watched him closely as he went outside and lay down on balcony. I followed after him but leaned back against it. He began to stare at me with that lazy expression of his.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, irritated.

"I'm ready for the motherly lecture." Shikamaru said. I rolled my eyes and took a seat next to him.

I sighed as I stared at the brand he was smoking. It was called Sakura. I frowned at the memory of using this brand in the past. Usually this brand comes within a soft or hard pack. There would be 10-20 cancer sticks in a pack. I remembered there were three different sizes. They are of traditional Japanese cigarette sizes: short (70 mm) or king size (85 mm) or long (100 mm). If I just wanted a little release, I'd use the short one. If I as dealing with a lot of shit at the moment I'd used the king size. And when I was out during the night, I'd use the long ones. Sakura was the only brand I would use. Not because it had the same name as me, but it was the first brand my first love had ever given me.

As I opened the pack, I looked to see that it was king size. Shikamaru must have really been thinking a lot. Most likely about Ino and Haru.

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" I asked Shikamaru. His eyes widened as he saw me smoke one.

"What the hell?" Shikamaru said as he grabbed them away. "Why are you smoking?"

"I could be asking you the same thing!" I said.

"They aren't mine!" Shikamaru said.

"Then why are you smoking them?" I argued.

"I've been smoking since my…" I looked at Shikamaru to see him have a sad expression. "…since my parents died. But ever since Minato-san adopted me, I stopped. He helped me stop. He said that if I smoke and/or he sees me smoke, he dies a little inside."

"I'm sorry…" I said as I patted his hand.

"Your turn, why are you?" Shikamaru asked me. I frowned as I thought about my past. Looking back, I was a stupid child.

"I'll only tell you if you promise not to tell the others that I smoked!" I said glaring at him.

"How troublesome." He said but nodded.

"It was the way I grew up. My parents died when I was very little. I had my brother but he left me shortly after that. I was homeless and had to learn the ways of the real world in an early age. I ended up doing some stupid shit." I said. I really did hate talking about my past.

"Does it have to deal with those masks I saw when we were sneaking into Ino's home?" Shikamaru asked. I smiled. This boy really was a genius.

"Yeah. But enough about me. You're in love with Ino! So why are you letting her get married to that Haru guy?"

"Because he's in love with her." Shikamaru muttered.

"So are you! I heard from Ino that you three were childhood friends." I said. I wanted to hear his side of the engagement story. "I also heard that you two were supposed to be in an arranged marriage."

"Did she tell you all that?" He asked me. I nodded.

"Do you know she's in love with you?" I asked. Shikamaru let out a forced laugh.

"She isn't in love with me." Shikamaru denied. "She's in love with what she thought I did."

What? He just lost me. I guess Shikamaru could tell from my facial expression as he let out a biter smile.

"This is what happened…" Shikamaru said as he stared at the clouds for a bit before closing his eyes.

**FLASHBACK**

"_Shika-kun! Shika-kun!" a sweet voice called out. Shikamaru opened his eyes as a cute nine year old girl with short blonde hair and sparkling sky blue eyes stared down at him happily. Shikamaru let out a lazy smile._

"_Hey!" He responded._

_Ino smiled back as a light blush appeared on her face. It was the middle of summer and it was super hot. The two of them had gone to the riverbank near the Yamanaka mansion. Chouji and Haru arrived a couple minutes after as Ino had pulled Shikamaru with her to meet them. Ino was wearing a purple summer dress as she put on her floppy hat. _

"_You look pretty today!" Haru complimented Ino. _

"_I always look pretty!" Ino smirked._

_Chouji went fishing as Haru was practicing his soccer kicks. Shikamaru, of course, was relaxing and cloud gazing. He soon noticed Ino was up on the cliff above them picking flowers._

"_Shika-kun! Look! I'm so high, I can reach the sky!" Ino giggled. Shikamaru smiled at her as she resumed to what she was doing earlier. Thinking everything was fine, Shikamaru went back to looking at the clouds. It was then he heard Ino's sharp cries. _

"_Ino!" Chouji shouted as Haru had stopped playing soccer. Shikamaru quickly got up to see Ino had tripped over a rock and had hit her head on the side of the cliff. She was soon heading head first into the water._

"_Ino!" Shikamaru cried out as he ran to her. He watched as Ino expression turned from fear to a sense of relaxation knowing that he was coming to her rescue. She soon fainted from the hit to the head._

_Before Shikamaru could grab Ino, Haru had gone and pulled Ino into a hug as they fell into the water._

"_I got her!" Haru announced._

"_Ino-chan!" An older woman's voice appeared. It seemed that Chouji had gone and called Ino's mom. Mrs. Yamanaka took Ino in her arms and carried her away into the mansion. The maids soon took the boys as well to get cleaned up._

_A couple hours later, Shikamaru was able to stay back at the mansion as Chouji and Haru went home. _

"_Hey…" Shikamaru said awkwardly. He was mad that he wasn't able to save Ino. _

_Ino had a light blush on her face as she smiled at him._

"_Thank you for rescuing me!" Ino smiled. _

**End of Flashback**

"She's only in love with me because she thinks I saved her that day." Shikamaru said.

"You can't just assume things, Shikamaru." I said. "Maybe Ino's in love with you because of who you are not what you did. Her wedding is on October 13. That's 12 days from now! You're honestly not going to tell her you're in love with her?"

"She can do better than me…" Shikamaru muttered as he sat up and rested his head on his knees.

"Like Haru?" I argued. "No one is better suited for Ino than you! Any idiot can see that! If you're going to let Ino go that easily, that just tells me that you don't truly love her!You two just need to tell each other how you feel! Listen to her heartbeat. It only beats for you and no one else!"" I grabbed the pack from him as I stormed out of the room with the slamming of the door.

I went downstairs to see the boys eating silently. It made me wonder whether or not they heard us. To be honest, I didn't really care! Shikamaru pissed me off so much. RAWR! I really had the urge to smoke! Habits die hard. I tried stopping a couple months ago.

"Is everything okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked me as he placed a warm hand on my head. I watched as his eyes fell down to the pack of cigarettes in my hand.

"What are you doing with that?" Naruto asked as he took the pack from my hand. Bringing his face close to my head, he took a sniff of me and frowned. "Why do you-"

"Shikamaru was smoking in front of me. It must have clung on to me." I said quickly.

Naruto continued to stare at me intensely. Why can't he just drop it?

"Okay." Naruto smiled. "Just throw that away and come and eat dinner before it gets cold!"

I nodded as I went to the kitchen to throw it away. I forgot to ask Shikamaru where he got it from since he said that it wasn't his. Looking at the back of the pack, the initials N.U. was written. My eyes widened. Naruto…Uzumaki? My head quickly snapped to the window in the kitchen that showed the dining room. Naruto was being an idiot like usual as Sai was making fun of him again. Naruto was a smoker? Urg! I didn't have time for this! I had to help ShikaIno happen and plan for the mother goal. I frowned. Why did I feel like I was forgetting something?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"S-Sakura-chan…" Hinata whispered to me during physiology the next day. Genma-sensei was lecturing about composite cells. Something I already knew. I was writing on my note book planning the Halloween event and how to bring Shikamaru and Ino together. I looked over to see Hinata throwing a note to me. Slowly, I opened the note and was shocked.

"Can anyone tell me the function of proteins on membrane surfaces?" Genma asked.

"WHAT!" I screamed as I got out of my chair. I stared at Hinata before looking at Naruto, then at Genma. He raised an eyebrow at me as I blushed in embarrassment.

"Something tells me you weren't paying attention to my lecture." Genma said. "Answer the question, Haruno."

"Eh…" What did ask, I wondered. I remembered planning to have a band perform during the event. No, forget that. What was the question? How to torture Shikamaru until he grows the balls to stop Ino's wedding? No, that wasn't it either. Something about proteins functions on membrane surfaces? That seemed right.

"Uh…proteins function as receptors on membrane surfaces and form channels for the passage of ions such as Na+ and Cl-"I guessed. Genma nodded.

"Sakura-chan, you're so smart!" Naruto grinned.

"Hmph, lucky guess!" A fan girl of Naruto's said loudly. "Anyone can guess it right."

"Oh really." Genma smirked. "Roxanne, can you tell me what the cytoplasm is?"

"Um…no."

"Didn't think so. If you didn't paint your nails in class and actually paid attention, then you could have known the answer." Genma said. Roxanne turned red as she ran out of the class crying.

"Genma-sensei, you asshole. My parents will hear about this!" She shouted down the hall.

"Ask me! Ask me!" Naruto said as he raised his hand. Everyone was surprised. Naruto wanted to answer a question for once?

"Sure Uzumaki." Genma said.

"A cytoplasm is a semi fluid substance. It contains membranes, organelles, and the rods and tubules of the cytoskeleton all suspended in the cytosol or the cytoplasm." Naruto asked.

The toothpick in Genma's mouth almost slipped from his mouth. The whole class's mouth dropped and I smirked. That's my boy!

"C-Correct!" Genma said.

"Sakura-chan forced me to study after she found out my rank for the past three years." Naruto grinned. My sons were the top students in the school. First were Neji, Sasuke, Sai, Shino, and Shikamaru. Shikamaru could have been first if he wasn't so lazy. Naruto on the other hand wasn't even in the top 100.

I soon thought about the note Hinata wrote to me. Naruto's birthday was in eight days!

**XxXxXxXxX**

It was afterschool as she wanted me to go with her to buy him a present.

"I can't believe I didn't know it was Naruto's birthday on October 10th!" I cried out.

"I-It's okay!" Hinata said.

"Okay. What are you planning to get Naruto?" I asked her.

"I-I don't know actually. I know he likes ramen and red bean soup." Hinata said as she began to play with her fingers.

"A way to a man's heart is through his stomach, huh?" I teased her as she turned red.

"Hm…" As we were walking around the plaza, I looked up at a bulletin board. "I GOT IT!" I said. Hinata jumped at the sudden sound of my voice.

"W-What is it?" She asked.

"For his birthday, we're going to take him there!" I said pointing to what I saw.

Hinata's eyes widened. "That's a good idea!" She smiled. "Naruto-kun loves this band! I remember him talking to me about this band."

"I know. I was cleaning his room once and I stumbled upon the cds he has of them. I never really heard of the band but I actually heard Naruto singing this one song." I said as I thought about it.

**Flashback**

"_Hm, I wonder if Naruto has any laundry for me to clean. Sasuke obviously doesn't want anyone to go into his room and the rest of the boys don't want me to do their laundry for some reason." Sakura thought as she started to head to Naruto's room. It was over the summer a few weeks before school started. Sakura's ears soon began to pick up some weird noise. It was coming from Naruto's room. She was surprised to see the rest of the brothers in front of Naruto's room with grins on their faces._

"_What are you guys doing?" Sakura asked._

_Sai quickly pulled Sakura to them as he put a hand over her mouth. "Shush, he'll hear us." I whispered._

"_The idiot is listening to 2PM." Sasuke smirked. _

"_What's that?" Sakura asked._

"_It's a Korean boy band." Neji explained to me."It's Naruto's favorite band."_

"_What's so interesting about that?" Sakura asked._

"_Sakura-san, have you ever heard Naruto sing?" Shino asked. Sakura shook her head._

"_Well, Naruto can sing if he really tries." Shikamaru said. "But when it comes to 2PM, he gets too excited and well…"_

"_He sounds like a crazed fan girl." Neji said. "He sounds like a girl especially when he sings their song 'Heartbeat'. He's voice is all over the place!"_

"_Listen!" Sasuke said as he brought Sakura close to him. He was the closest to the door._

**(Go on youtube and look up the video 2PM-heartbeat special fan girl ver. It should be the first one by KeelyLUB. Listen to it while reading this part)**

"_Can you feel my heartbeat!"  
Heart beat pew pew pew pew  
Niga jitbarpgo tteonan simjangi  
Ajikdo ttwigo isseo geugeotdo neoreul hyanghae_

_**The moment he started singing, it was like everything was being fast-forward and high pitch. Sakura had to cover her mouth from laughing out loud.**_

_Ijeuryeogo amuri noryeokhaebwado  
Saeroun saramdeureul amuri mannabwado  
Gyesok dasi tto dasi doraseomyeon wae nisaenggangman naneunji  
Anhallae geumanhallae amuri naejasineul  
Dallaego tto dallaebwado amu soyongieobseo  
Nae simjangi gojangna beoryeosseo wae_

_Wae ajikdo nan ireon babogateun jiseul haneunji  
Meoriron algenneunde gaseumeun wae jimamdaeronji  
Neoreul japgo nochireul motae  
Jigeumdo niga naui gyeote inneun geot gatae  
Geureul mitjimotae_

_Nugu mannado maeum sok han goseun yeolji motago  
Gyesok nijaril biwona_

_Olliga eomneunde oljido moreundago  
Wae mitneunji gaseumi wae mareul andeutni_

_Listen to my Heartbeat (It's beating for you)_

_**At the first sentence of the chorus, it was as if he was emphasizing each word.**_

_Listen to my Heartbeat (It's waiting for you)*COUGH*  
Kkeutnatdaneun geol ajikdo molla  
Wae ireoneunji ihaega anga  
Listen to my Heartbeat (It's beating for you)_

_**The words after heartbeat sounded like he was constipated**_

_Listen to my Heartbeat (It's waiting for you)  
Neoui saenggage ajikdo apa  
Gaseumi ttwil ttaemada saenggangna_

_Ijeoyahae ijeoya salsuisseo  
Jiwo beoryeoyamanhae an geureomyeon naega jugeo  
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah coming  
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah moving on  
Gasseo ojianha geunyeoneun nisaenggak haji anha_

_Geunyeoneun naega gidarineungeol  
Jeonhyeo moreunchae jal salgo isseo  
Geunyeoneun imi nal ijeosseo wanjeonhi jiwosseo  
Wae nan geureoke motani_

_Huh!_

_(It's beating for you) uh uh_

_(It's waiting for you)  
Kkeutnatdaneungeol ajikdo molla  
_

**Naruto began to make really weird sounds after that.**

_YOU!_

_Waiting for you!_

_Neoui saenggage ajikdo apa  
Gaseumi ttwil ttaemada saenggangna_

_Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun_

_My heart is beating.  
Dun dun dun dun dun dun_

_Faster and Faster_

_Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun_

_My heart is beating_

_Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun_

_Faster and f-f-f-f-faster_

_Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun_

_My heart is beating_

_Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun_

_**All that they could hear was gibberish after that**_

_Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun_

_My heart is beating_

_More gibberish and then the sound of his heart beat ending. Sakura couldn't hold it in any longer. She laughed as she fell back taking Sasuke down laughing with her. Naruto's door opened quickly as his face was red with embarrassment. The rest followed suit as they cracked up, even the silent Shino._

"_Omg! I need to pee!" Sakura laughed as she pounded her hand on the floor._

"_My heart is beating!" Shikamaru and Neji said in a high pitched voice as they cracked up again._

"_I-I can't breathe!" Sakura cried as she tried to control her breathing. Sai and Sasuke continued to make her laugh by interpreting Naruto._

"_Listen to my heart!" Sai said._

"_It's waiting for you *COUGH*" Sasuke said._

_Sakura laughed even louder as she tried to wipe the tears away from her face. Naruto smiled seeing how close his family seemed to each other. This is the first time he saw everyone laughing together._

**End of flashback**

Hinata and I began to crack up after my story.

"I-I wish I could have been there to see that!" Hinata smiled.

"I wish I had that on camera! I didn't know Naruto could make his voice sound like that!" I cracked up again in memory. "You should bring him there on a date!"

"D-D-D-D-Date?" Hinata said.

"Please don't faint on me!" I pleaded.

"P-Please, come with me!" Hinata asked.

"I really don't want to be a third wheel!" I said raising my hands up.

"You won't be. I'll buy four tickets. You can bring Ino-chan!" Hinata said.

"Fine, but allow me to pay for Ino and mine." I said. After we went to buy the tickets, we decided to go to Lee's café. I expected to see everyone laughing and having fun, but not Ino's father talking to Lee as Ino was being comforted by Tenten and Temari.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"F-Forehead-girl!" Ino cried as she went to me. "I-It's horrible!"

"What happened?" I said worried.

"My father moved the wedding to the 5th. That's three days from now." Ino cried. "He's making me quit the café."

"Mr. Yamanaka!" I said as I pushed Ino behind me. "You can't do this to Ino!"

"Don't tell how I can treat my daughter." He said. "You shouldn't baby her so much!" I glared him.

"Don't tell me how to treat my best friend!" I snapped back.

SLAP!

My eyes widened as I felt the burning sensation on my left cheek.

"Oh hell no!" Temari said pulling up her sleeves. "That bastard is asking for a fight!"

"Temari, don't!" Tenten said holding her back. Hinata was helping her as well. "He's powerful enough to have you kicked out of Konoha."

"You're going to let him do that to her. She's done so much for us and we can't do anything for her?" Temari growled.

"We have to choose fights wisely. We're not involved with this problem. It's only Sakura, Ino, and her father." Tenten said. "It's a past only they could fix."

Kankuro, Kiba, and Lee were having a hard time holding back Gaara as well.

"Gaara, I know you have a grudge against Mr. Yamanaka! But Sakura was able to clear your name. Don't let her efforts go to waste!" Lee said.

"No matter how much of an ass he is." Kankuro added.

"But Sakura…"

"Sakura is trying to gain Yamanaka's respect slowly…" A voice said. Everyone looked to see Haru standing next to them. Everyone watched in anger as Yamanaka pushed Sakura down. All she did was bow to him with her head tilted down. "That's true friend right there…"

"I'm sorry Mr. Yamanaka. Please don't force Ino into this marriage. She's in love with someone else!" I shouted. Ino's eyes widened as did Haru's.

"Excuse me?" He said.

"Ino is in love with someone else. That's the person she should be marrying. That guy loves her more than anything! No matter how hard you beat me down, I won't stop until those two get their happiness. She's come a long way and I won't let you destroy the hard work she and I made, just so you can be satisfied!" I said. "Besides, I've dealt with stronger opponents, if you remembered." I smirked.

"Cocky bitch." He growled as he punched me once in the face before leaving. I slowly watched as he turned to face Ino.

"Don't bother coming home tonight!" Mr. Yamanaka said as he left the shop.

"Asshole…" I said as I fell to the ground. That last punch hurt like a bitch. I spit out the blood from my mouth.

Ino broke down crying once again as she fell to her knees in front of me. She slowly pulled me into her arms as began to apologize continuously.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ino cried as I felt her warm tears hit my cheek. I slowly put a hand on her back and tried to soothe her.

"It's okay. Really. It's alright!" I said smiling at her. For some reason, it continued to make her cry even more.

"I love him so much!" Ino bawled. "Why can't he see that? My heart is only for him!"

"You two should talk it out and just tell each other how you feel. Listen to his heart beat."

Haru left unnoticed.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"So that ends today's meeting!" Sasuke said.

"So much papers to fill out!" Naruto whined.

"Is Shikamaru Nara here?" A voice called out.

"Who's that?" Sai asked. Shikamaru looked up from filling out papers to see who was looking for him.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he saw Haru standing in front of them. "What do you want?"

"Ino-chan and I are getting married in three days." Haru said.

"WHAT!" Naruto said. "That pig is getting married?"

"Why are you telling me that?" Shikamaru asked.

"If you're trying to pick a fight with my brother, I suggest you leave!" Sasuke said. Shikamaru looked at Sasuke in surprise. Was Sasuke actually standing up for someone?

"I'm not trying to start a fight, president-sama." Haru said. "That girl. Sakura Haruno, was it?"

Everyone began to get worried once their mother's name was mentioned.

"What happened to Sakura-san?" Shino asked coming forward Haru. Haru took a step back. The guy scared him with the tone of his voice.

"Mr. Yamanaka…he hurt Sakura badly. She stood up to him and was trying to ask him to stop the wedding. She was saying that Ino-chan was in love with someone else who truly deserved her." Haru said.

"HE HIT SAKURA-CHAN? Who does he think he is? I'm going to send that bastard to the hospital!" Naruto said. "No one messes with our mother and gets away with it!"

"Why are you telling me all this?" Shikamaru asked. "Are you trying to tell me to take Ino away from you?"

"She's the one in love with you." Haru smiled. "I thought I finally won against you when I got engaged to In-chan. But I didn't win because her heart belongs to you."

"She's only in love with me because she thinks I'm the one who saved her that day." Shikamaru said. "You were the one who saved her. You won her affection." Haru frowned as he punched Shikamaru in the face.

"Heh, and you're supposed to be the smartest person in Konoha. Don't let the past fuck up your happiness!" Haru growled. Everyone's eyes widened at those words. Haru didn't understand how that sentence affected them. "I don't want to marry Ino-chan knowing that you didn't even try to fight for her. What kind of man are you, letting the girl of your dreams go so easily? Are you in love with her or not? Sakura-san told Ino-chan's father off saying that you deserve her. But the man in front of me doesn't deserve Ino-chan's love at all!" Haru said as he walked away. "Don't even bother to come to the wedding!"

Shikamaru growled as he stood up and went to punch Haru back. Haru fell on his back as Shikamaru kneeled down and grabbed him by the collar. The boys were in shocked. They never saw Shikamaru this violent before. "Don't you dare think for one second that I don't love Ino!"

"Then prove it to me! Try to steal her away from me and get Yamanaka's approval!" Haru shouted as he head butted him. He quickly got up and ran away. "See you in three days!"

Intense much? More ShikaIno for everyone! I really didn't want to make Ino's father seem like such an asshole but it just happened to end up that way. Somehow, I'll find a way for Ino and Sakura to get along with Ino's father. I hope the whole flashback gave everyone a good laugh. When I first heard it, my reaction was like Sakura's. Anyways, what will Shikamaru do now? Find out next time! Please review everyone.

-Kumiko


	18. Wedding Dress

**Hey everyone! I know you all are ready to know what Shikamaru is going to do. So let's carry on with the story, shall we?**

**Sakura Kiss**

After the incident with Ino's dad, I brought her over to stay at my place. I gave Ino a pair of clothes to wear for the night as she went to take a shower. I announced that I was going to find a first aid kit. As I passed by a large mirror in the hallway, I stopped to look at the bruise I received. The redness was gone as it stayed an ugly purple color. Hopefully, I can hide this from the boys.

"What the hell is that?" A chilling voice said. I jumped in the air from shocked. I slowly turned around to see the all mighty Neji towering down on me. His lavender white eyes focused on the bruise. I started to feel uncomfortable with his stare as I covered it with my hand.

"Who hit you?" Neji said as he pulled me to the kitchen and made me sit on the chairs.

"I can do it." I said getting up, but he gave me a glare that made me shrink back in my seat. Exactly who was the parent in this situation? I watched as he got a first aid kit from the pantry.

"So what do you guys want for dinner? I can get Hikaru to pick up some stuff from the grocery after work." I said looking at my feet.

"Don't change the subject." Neji said as he walked up to me and inspected the bruise again. "Don't tell me it was those dumb fan girls of ours! They're just too much!"

"No!" I shook my head. Neji made a "tsk" sound with his tongue as he placed a couple of ice cubes in a zip lock bag and held it against the bruise. I winced at the sudden coldness as I helped hold it with his hand.

"Your hand is warm." I commented with a smile. I could tell Neji tried to fight the urge to roll his eyes.

"Are you going to tell me who hurt you?" Neji asked. He was really angry that someone hit me and was going to get away with it.

"It was my father…" Ino said coming into the kitchen. Her hair was still damped as she was wearing my blue long sleeves and my grey sweats. A white towel was wrapped around her shoulders. "I'm really sorry Sakura-chan…" I sighed mentally. Ino was in tears again.

"Your father did this?" Neji said. I quickly grabbed his hand.

"It's not her fault. I angered him and got what I deserved." I said.

"You don't deserve to get hi-"I squeezed his hand tightly as I signaled him to look at Ino. She looked like she was going to cry a river again. Neji didn't finish his sentence as he continued to treat my bruise by adding a bandage over it.

"Thanks." I said with a grinned as I tried to lighten the mood. I watched as Neji's mouth tilted upward slightly as he ruffled my hair.

"Just take better care of yourself. I'll be doing homework up in my room. Call me when dinner is ready." Neji said walking away.

"Be sure to get your laundry ready. Tell your brothers as well. Ino and I will be out to buy food." I shouted as I grabbed a jacket and headed outside with Ino. On our walk to the grocery, I noticed that she was very quiet as if something was on her mind.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Kinda…" She mumbled. "It's just that, I've never seen Neji act so kind to anyone before. Not even when he was the school president last year. Not even to Lee and Tenten, and those two were the closest to him."

"I'm his mother, what do you expect?" I said back. We entered the store as a person greeted us. Ino took a cart as we started on the right side of the store, picking up different kinds of fruits.

"It's not just Neji. I noticed it with Sai and Sasuke as well. They treat you with this special kindness. I think they like you." Ino grinned.

"Of course they like me! I like them too." I said as I was examining the package of strawberries.

"No, I mean like they like you like you!" Ino said. "Do you like anyone? You did kiss Sai."

I blushed. "That's not possible. Besides after O-"

"You don't need to say it. I know. That ex-boyfriend of your still has a date with my fists. That bastard. If he ever shows his face again, I'll hurt him so bad you won't be able to recognize him. Like hell he's gonna get away with it." Ino growled.

I let out a laugh. "It's okay Ino. I'm over him. That's all in the past. I'm stronger now." I said. Yeah, I had a boyfriend. He was my first and last. We were together when I was 13. We broke it off a year later. The relationship was fun of course. We did things that normal couples didn't do. Then again, I wasn't really a normal girl back then. Things started to get bad as it interfered in my friends' lives. I broke it off but not after I was beaten up to the point where I was in the hospital for four months. Since then, my friends made sure I was never involved with my ex and his friends ever again. Gaara especially made sure of that since he was the most protective one of the bunch.

"Are you going to talk to Shikamaru tonight?" I asked her after a couple minutes of silence.

"Should I?" Ino asked worriedly.

"Trust me Ino. That guy is in love with you. He's just afraid." I smiled.

"I probably will." Ino smiled back.

Half an hour later, we arrived back at the Namikaze house hold. Ino helped me start dinner as Hikaru began to set up the table after he got home.

"Ah, Sakura-chan. This is what it feels to be married to you!" Hikaru smiled as he tried to wrap his arms around me only to be stopped by the glare of Sasuke.

"Don't even think about it." Sasuke said as he dragged Hikaru to the table. I felt someone turn me around.

"So that guy wasn't lying." Sai said as he was inches away from my face. He cupped my face as h looked t the bandage. Remembering Ino's words, I turned red as I slowly pushed him away and out of the kitchen. "Go take a shower or something." I said embarrassed as I went back to my cooking. I looked at Ino to see her giving me that 'I told you so' look.

"Oi, Sakura!" Shikamaru called me out as he entered the kitchen. He paused as he got a good look at Ino. Ino looked up and noticed him too. Her face turned red as she accidentally cut herself with the knife.

"Troublesome woman…" I heard Shikamaru mutter as he took the first aid kit and treated her cut. I took this chance to get out of the kitchen.

"Oh my, I seem to have lost my cell phone. I must go and look for it." I said in a robotic tone before walking out of the kitchen as one. I quickly hid under the window between the dining room and the kitchen.

"What are you doing hag?" Sai said not noticing the important scene in front of him.

"Get down you idiot!" I said as I pushed him down. Soon Naruto and the others followed us.

"What's going on Sakura-san?" Shino whispered to me.

"Ino and Shikamaru are in the kitchen." Neji told him. "They're finally going to talk it out."

"About time…" Sasuke muttered.

Back in the kitchen Ino could only blush to Shikamaru's touches as he wrapped her finger. "There."

"Thank you…" She muttered.

"So I'm getting married in two days." Ino began to say. "Will you make it?"

"No." Shikamaru said immediately.

"Excuse me?" Ino said narrowing her eyes.

"I'm not going to that troublesome wedding!" Shikamaru said.

"Idiot!" I muttered as I banged my head on the wall.

"Why not?" Ino asked as she stood up.

"Why should I?" Shikamaru asked meeting her glare with his own.

"You're my best friend along with Haru! He wants you to be there." Ino pleaded. "I need you there."She finished in a softer voice.

"I have a date that day." Shikamaru said. "Besides, it's so troublesome. It'd be better if I didn't go. I hate weddings and to be honest with you Ino, I'm annoyed of you!"

My mouth dropped as well as everyone else's. WHAT. THE. FUCK?

Ino didn't say anything at first as her lips turned into a bitter smile. "Liar."

"Just go and marry Haru. He loves you more than anything." Shikamaru said as he got up to leave the kitchen.

"I can't believe you. I love you Shika-kun!" Ino cried. "You're the one I want. S-So why?"

Shikamaru stopped walking and looked back. "Why? Because I wasn't the one who saved you that day. It was Haru. You don't love me. You just love what I did. So don't mistake me as your prince that saved you." With that he continued to walk as tears rolled down Ino's cheek.

I quickly got up as I had a deadly aura around me. Naruto and the others gulped as they backed away from me. I walked into the kitchen as I gave Shikamaru the deadliest glare I could give him.

"You asshole!" I said as I slapped him hard across the face. "I gave you a chance to stop Ino from getting married. She doesn't want to marry Haru, you idiot! She wants to marry you! How hard is that to see? After what I just saw, you don't deserve Ino at all! I don't want you to go to the wedding. In fact, you're grounded! I'm putting you on lock down. You can forget about your date as well." I growled.

"Sakura…" I heard Ino call to me.

"This is low, even for you!" I said. I was just so angry. I went to hit him again but stopped when Ino stepped in between me and Shikamaru.

"Ino…" Shikamaru whispered. Ino had her arms opened wide as she looked down to the ground. Her bangs were covering most of her face so I couldn't see what expression she had on.

Ino ignored him. "Sakura, that's enough."

"But he-"

"He's right. I don't love him. He opened my eyes. The one I truly love is Haru. I should have seen this sooner. Even after I found out Haru was the one who saved me a few days after the incident. I was still kidding myself into thinking I loved Shikamaru. I'm not really hungry. If you excuse me, I'll be heading upstairs now. Good night everyone!" Ino turned around as she brushed shoulders with Shikamaru who was speechless. Ino ran upstairs in tears.

"I-Ino!" Shikamaru turned to go after her but Neji held him back.

"Just let her be. You did enough damage for one night." Neji commented.

"Hikaru, do you think you can finish making dinner for me?" I asked him. "I'm not in the mood anymore." I gave Shikamaru one more deadly glare as I went upstairs to my room to find Ino on my bed crying. It was truly heartbreaking to hear.

"Ino…" I said as I was patting her back thinking of what to say.

If I told her that there were other fish in the sea she'd be a smartass and say _'BUT I DON'T WANT A FISH. I WANT HIM. I WANT HIM BACK! WAHHHHHH_' Then I'd be a socially awkward penguin.

I can't tell her that he was stupid for what he did. She'll be a smartass and say _'I WAS STUPID FOR LOVING HIM! WAHHHH.'_ Then I'd still be a socially awkward penguin.

I really can't say that he didn't deserve her, and that she was too good. Again she'll be a smartass and say, _'IF I'M SO GOOD, WHY DID HE DIDN'T HE WANT ME? WAAAAAAH.'_ Then again I'm the socially awkward penguin.

So what do you say to your best friend who's suffering from a heart break? What you say is…

"INO! GET THE FUCK UP. WE'RE GOING TO WAL-MART. WE ARE BUYING A GALLON OF ICE CREAM FOR YOUR MOPEY ASS, AND YOU'RE GOING TO CRY ALL FUCKING NIGHT. YOU WILL WAKE UP TOMORROW MORNING. WE'LL GO SHOPPING AND BE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BITCHES ON THE PLANET."

She can't be a smartass now, can she? And I am no longer caught in a socially awkward situation. I will not be a penguin, I am practically Jesus!

"Thanks, but no thanks…" Ino said. My image of me being Jesus cracked into a thousand pieces as I found myself sweeping them up. Did Ino…Ino Yamanaka refuse to go shopping? Oh the world is going to end!

"I can't believe that nerve of that guy!" I said.

"You know. Maybe marrying Haru won't be that bad. I've known him as long as I did with Shikamaru. He's the captain of the soccer team and his family loves me. I know he'll treat me right." She told me with a smile. What a fake smile.

I swear Ino and Shikamaru were getting on my last nerves. "As long as you're going to be happy. That's all I want." I said.

"Thanks Forehead-girl." Ino said as she got up to brush her teeth. I went back down to see Shikamaru being lectured by Naruto. Rolling my eyes, I went back up to brush my teeth as well.

To say that tonight was okay was an understatement….

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The next day was even more troublesome. Ino had put make up on me to hide the ugly bruise I received. I must say, make-up does wonders. We all got ready for school half an hour later. The car ride to school was just awkward. Nobody would say anything as Shikamaru and Ino would glare at each other in the car. The first two periods were okay. But during break all hell broke loose. Shikamaru, Sasuke, Shino, and Hikaru were walking with me during break since we had second period together. We soon bumped into Ino and Haru walking down the hallway.

"Ino-chan! I heard you're getting married tomorrow!" A girl came up to Ino.

"Haha yeah! I love Ino so much. It's a dream come true!" Haru said with a smile as he placed a kiss on Ino's forehead. The girls in the hallways blushed at the action as the guys cheered.

"You're so lucky to have him, Ino!" Another girl said.

"Haru, dude! You're so lucky. You took away the school's most beautiful woman." A man said as he patted Haru on the back.

"My father got the invitation so I'll see you there."

"Please make it to my wedding if you can. It will be the happiest day of my life!" Ino smiled. There was no sign of sadness in her voice or expression. But me being her best friend knows that she was faking it. I wasn't surprised when I heard Shikamaru growl with jealousy. But what can I say? He had it coming. Yeah, I was still mad at him.

"Your jealousy is showing…" Shino commented.

"I'm not jealous." Shikamaru said.

"Hn." Sasuke said. "Keep telling yourself that."

The bell rang as people began to head to their classes. Haru soon noticed us a couple feet away.

"Sakura-san! Shikamaru!" Haru called out as he gave us a friendly smile. Ino's eyes widened as she came to me, ignoring Shikamaru completely.

"Hey forehead-girl, I need you to come with me afterschool. I need you and the girls to buy your gowns. You, of course, are going to be my maid-of-honor." Ino said.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" Haru said. "Shikamaru, will you be my best man?"

I was surprised by Haru's question. Shikamaru, I could tell, was really surprised. Haru knew that Shikamaru and Ino loved each other so why ask him to be the best man? That was unless…

I looked up at Haru to see him giving me a sad smile. That's when it clicked. He wanted Shikamaru to come to the wedding in order to give him another chance to ruin the wedding. I looked over at Shikamaru. In fact everyone in the hallways did. Maybe it was obvious that the two liked each other and that everyone in school knew about it.

"I-" Shikamaru began to say.

"Don't even bother!" Ino said. "He has a date that day!" The tone in her voice had a bitter feeling. "Let's go to class, forehead-girl." Ino pulled me with her to Kakashi's class. Looking back, I saw Haru asking Shikamaru to go with him somewhere real quick.

I felt warm tears on my hand. I looked up at Ino to see her crying once again.

"Ino…" I began to say.

"I did my best right?" Ino asked. "I tried really hard right?"

I ruffled her hair. "You did the best you could do!"! I smiled at her.

"Sakura!" Suigetsu called out to me the moment Ino and I entered the classroom.

"What's up?" I said as I took a seat in my desk.

"The guys and I are wondering what the student council has planned for Halloween. I asked Sasuke, but he said to ask you because you're in charge." Suigetsu smiled.

My eyes widened. HOLY SHIT! I FORGOT!

"You forgot, didn't you?" Sasuke said as he took a seat next to me. Kakashi-sensei wasn't in class yet so everyone was messing around.

I blushed hotly. "No! For your information! I have everything planned already!" I lied.

"Oh really!" Ami said as she came over to my desk. "And what do you have planned for us?"

Someone just dig a hole for me to fall into.

"She's going to have a Tommy Heavenly6 and Girls Dead Monsters perform!" Ino said for me.

"Tommy Heavenly6 and Girls Dead Monsters!" People in the classroom began to talk about it.

"Yeah." I said bravely.

"To make it even better, we'll be having our own Sasuke Uchiha perform for us!" Sasuke turned to glare at Ino who just smiled innocently.

"Omg! Sasuke-kun is going to sing!" Karin and Ami squealed. Suigetsu and I rolled our eyes.

"I'm planning to have a costume dance party in the gymnasium as well." I said with a smile. Everyone began to clap as they liked the idea.

"You're so smart, Sakura-san!" People in the class began to agree.

"To make it even cooler, you should add the test of courage to room 666." A boy said.

"Room 666?" I asked.

"You didn't hear about that, forehead-girl?" Ino asked. "I was expecting Sasuke-kun and the others to have told you already."

"Obviously, they didn't. What is it?" I asked again. Suigetsu took a deep breath as he was going to explain it to me.

"Many years ago, there was a student that attended Konoha Academy. It was said that she had a secret relationship with a teacher who taught in room 666." Suigetsu said. The forbidden teacher/student relationship? My eyes widened. I thought that only happened in shojo mangas. "One day, the teacher asked the girl to stay afterschool, but was running late to meet her. It was then the girl was raped a brutally murdered. There was another girl who was in love with the teacher and was jealous when she found out about their relationship. She asked her guy friends to get rid of the girl to have the teacher all for herself. A few days later, the evil girl went to get her bag in her room where she suddenly disappeared. Rumor has it that it was the ghost of the girl that died. No one wanted to teach or go to that classroom. Anyone who goes in there will fear the wrath of the girl that died. She's looking for something and won't lay to rest until she does." Suigetsu had finished his story as the class clapped for him.

"Ridiculous…" Gaara said. "That's the biggest bullshit I ever heard."

"Ah." Sasuke said. "I don't believe in that ghost stuff."

"Don't ruin it for the rest of us assholes…" Suigetsu said as he stuck his tongue out. "So can we have the test of courage?" His attention was back to me.

"S-Sure?" I said. Great, now I have to find a way to get Tommy Heavenly6 and Girls Dead Monsters to perform. I soon looked at Sasuke. I didn't even know he sang. Well I have to worry about that after Ino's wedding and Naruto's birthday.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

It was late at night as I had just come home from hanging out with Ino and the girls. I had my dress for tomorrow in my hands as I placed it nicely on my bed. I was so excited. Chouji was going to be the best man followed by Naruto, Lee, and Shino. Haru didn't really know that much people and Naruto offered to help along with Lee and Shino surprisingly.

I went to check up on the boys since I did come home late. It seemed like they ate dinner. Hikaru was knocked on in his bed. Neji was meditating in the middle of his room. Sai was busy drawing. Shino was sleeping. Naruto was up with Sasuke teasing him about singing for the Halloween party in the hallway.

"Hey Sakura-chan! You're home!" Naruto said as he came to hug me.

"Yeah. Sorry. Ino was getting nervous for tomorrow." I said.

"Don't you feel pretty bad for Shikamaru?" Naruto asked me.

"Why should i?" I asked. I was still angry with him.

"Because the girl of his dreams is getting married tomorrow." Sasuke said.

"Where is he anyways?" I asked Sasuke as Naruto said he was going to hit the sack now.

"Check up on the roof." Sasuke said as he too went into his room.

The roof huh? Shikamaru was on the roof smoking something once again.

"Shikamaru!" I growled. "What did I say about-?" I stopped when I saw the pained expression on his face. It reminded me of the same expression I had when my ex boyfriend broke up with me.

"Why?" I asked gently. "Why are you going to let her get married to another guy if you love her so much?"

"Because I'm not worth it." Shikamaru said. "I hurt her. I said things to her I didn't mean. I made her cry!" He burnt out the cigarette as he flicked it to who knows where. "Haru would never make her cry." Shikamaru rested his head on his knees as he wrapped his arms around him as a way to protect him.

"You know I love Ino like a sister." I began to say. "I want her to be the happiest she can be. That means if marrying Haru will make her happy, I won't allow you to ruin that for her. But…if you can prove to me, to Ino…to yourself that you have what it takes to make her happy…" I pulled out an invitation to him. "Then by all means, kidnap her tomorrow. I just want you to be happy as well. You're my son after all." I said with a smile. I soon left him to think about it.

Shikamaru let out a chuckle. "What a motherly thing to say."

**XxXxXxXxX**

_It was so perfect in my dreams._

_Don't you know that..._

_I will always love you forever._

_But baby..._

_When the church bells ring_

_you know that i wanted us to be there together_.

_Now you're in that wedding dress_...

Today was the big day. I was nervous. Like extremely nervous and I'm not even the bride!

"Will you relax? You're embarrassing me." Sai said as his arm was hooked with mine. He was my escort to the wedding. Neji told me he didn't want to go because Hinata's family was close to Ino's, so of course they'd go to the wedding. But he did say his congrats beforehand. Sasuke said he was going to help me get Tommy Heavenly6 and Girls Dead Monsters to play so he had to go meet with their managers. Shino was with Temari as Naruto was with Hinata meeting her dad for the first time. Everyone else was sitting down.

"You look beautiful as usual, un." A voice said. I was wearing a canary colored strapless ruched satin ball gown. My pink hair was half up with soft curls going down. I applied make up to my bruise once again before I headed out. I turned around to see Deidara and my brother smiling at me. I felt Sai's grip grow tighter as Deidara go closer to me.

"Can you excuse us? Find your own escort. She's mine." Sai said possessively.

"Listen to me, you brat. That's my little sister." Sasori said.

"You look familiar." Sai said looking at my brother.

"Who hasn't heard of Sasori Haruno, un." Deidara smirked. Sai's eyes widened.

"That's your brother?" Sai asked me.

"Um yeah why?" I asked.

"His talent in art is what inspired me in my artwork." Sai said with a smile. I sighed as I let Sai talk to my brother. Deidara took this chance to talk to me as he put an arm around my shoulder.

"So is that lazy bum going to come to the wedding, un?" Deidara asked.

"To be honest, I have no clue. Nothing will get to him." I said. "I'm going to go check up on Ino. Tell Sai for me." Deidara nodded as I went to Ino's room.

"Ino-pig?" I called out as I knocked. I heard voices on the other side.

"O-One minute." Ino said as she opened the door a couple minutes later. She was wearing an A-line Jenny Lee wedding dress. It was pure white and looked absolutely lovely on her.

"Was someone in the room with you?" I asked suspiciously.

"N-No why?" Ino asked. I narrowed my eyes at her blushing expression.

"Who was in the room Ino?" I asked.

Ino sighed. "Shika-kun…" She confessed. My eyes widened. He came? "He wanted ask if I was sure about this. I told him I was and then…"

"And then what?" I asked.

"…He kissed me." Ino said with a tiny smile.

"HE WHAT!" A girl screamed. Ino and I looked to see Temari, Tenten, and Hinata had entered the room.

"Where is that lazy bum? How dare he have the nerve to do that to you after what he said?" Temari growled. "No one will hurt my friend and get away with it."

"No, it's okay. He's not going to ruin the wedding. He asked me if I felt anything after the kiss and I said no." Ino said.

"B-But you did, didn't you?" Hinata asked. Ino nodded as she was about to cry.

"No crying!" Tenten said. "Do you know how hard it was to make you look the way you are even though you didn't need it?"

"Tenten's right." I said. "This is your wedding. Don't let this affect you. You have to be happy."

A couple minutes later, the girls and I found ourselves on the stairs waiting for Ino and her father to appear. Haru was on the stairs looking around as if waiting for something or someone. Soon the doors opened as everyone looked to see the lovely bride walking down the aisle. I wasn't looking at Ino though. Instead I was looking at Haru to see what his expression was. He stared at Ino with a mix of confusion, happiness, regret, and love.

Ino and her father stopped walking as he lifted the veil.

"You look so beautiful." Mr. Yamanaka said out loud. "I know I'll be giving you to someone who will love you with all their heart. I'm sorry about this marriage but just know I'm proud of you." Mr. Yamanaka placed a kiss on her forehead before seeing her off.

Ino walked up next to me as the celebrant began to start the ceremony. I looked around the area to see the women already patting away their tears. The celebrant already got to the last part of his speech.

""In marriage a family comes into being. Be joyful in your family. Bring to your family an appreciation of the beauty of each other. Bring to your family a sense of comfort and strength. Bring to your family a joy and thankfulness for being together. Marriage is a good estate. Bring to it joy. Bring to it the joy of this hour. Bring to it the enjoyment of each other." The priest soon looked at the audience. "Anyone who thinks different, please speak now or forever hold your peace."

Almost everyone looked around as if waiting for Shikamaru to stand up in the crowd and run up to Ino. Nothing.

Ino closed her eyes as she let just a single tear drop. I watched as people were still looking around and weren't really paying attention to the bride and groom up on stage. How sad.

"At this time, I'll ask you, the groom and bride, to face each other and take each other's hands." The Priest asked. "Groom, will you take Ino Yamanaka to be your wife, your partner in life and your one true love? Will you cherish her friendship and love her today, tomorrow and forever? Will you trust and honor her, laugh with her and cry with her? Will you be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

I looked away not wanting to watch the sad scene in front of me.

"I may not be your prince but is your knight in shining armor okay?" The groom asked.

Just like that, everyone's head snapped back up front as Ino's eyes widened. Standing in the place of Haru was no other than the lazy Shikamaru Nara.

"Shika-kun?" Ino said. She looked to see Haru had taken the place of the priest.

"What is the meaning of this?" Inoichi asked. "Haru, why is Shikamaru in your spot?"

"Sorry sir, but I'm not the one Ino loves." Haru said with a bittersweet smile. "I love Ino enough to want her happy even if it's not with me."

"But the-"Inoichi was cut off by Sasuke and Neji who appeared out of nowhere.

"If you're worried about your financial problems, Uchiha and I have you covered." Neji said as he had a stack of paper works in his hands.

"Mr. Yamanaka." I said as I got down from the stairs. "Ino is finally happy. Are you going to ruin that for her? If you are, you're going to have to go through me!"

"Sakura…" Ino said.

"And me!" Haru said stepping down as well.

"M-Me as well." Hinata said. Soon all the young kids were stepping in front of Inoichi to support Ino marrying Shikamaru.

"Mr. Yamanaka. For once in your life, can you overlook the grudge you have against me and allow Ino to marry the person she wants?" I said as I looked at him straight in the eye. His glare softened as he looked over to Ino.

"Do you really want to marry my best friend's son?" Inoichi asked his daughter. Ino nodded as tears were falling down her cheeks.

"Alright then." Inoichi said as he sat down. Everyone began to cheer as Shikamaru lifted Ino over his shoulders. "If you don't mind, I'm going to be stealing the bride for myself." Ino's shocked expression turned into a happy one as she allowed Shikamaru to carry her.

Crap. I can feel the tears forming in my eyes. I looked at the boys to see Naruto tearing up as well. Chouji was just snacking on his chips as he smiled for his best friends. Lee was biting on a handkerchief as he was trying to stop crying a river. "SO YOUTHFUL!" He exclaimed. Shino…well his expression was unreadable. I looked behind me to see Hinata crying already. Tenten was patting her tears away as Temari just smiled for the couple.

Shikamaru put her down before they left as they held hands and ran out of the chapel as everyone else followed. People that couldn't get inside were already standing outside throwing rice around. Ino took her bouquet of flowers and tossed it in the air. The girls were scattering around to catch it. I just stood next in between Sai and Sasuke, not wanting to get involved in a cat-fight. For some reason, girls get really crazy when it comes to things like clothes and boys. I saw Karin and Tenten fight for the bouquet but it flew over them and surprisingly landed in my hands. Everyone looked at me and smiled.

"Seems like you're the next one to get married!" Suigetsu called out in the crowd. "I wonder who the lucky man will be?" Suigetsu signaled to the around me. I blushed when I felt Sasuke, Sai, Gaara, Neji, and Deidara looking at me with intense gazes. Oh boy…

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

**This is just an extra about Shikamaru's part of the story...**

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" Haru said. "Shikamaru, will you be my best man?"

Shikamaru was surprised. Was this guy an idiot? He was in love with Ino!

"Don't even bother!" Ino said. "He has a date that day!" The tone in her voice had a bitter feeling. "Let's go to class, forehead-girl" Shikamaru watched as the love of his life walked away with his mother in tow.

"Hey Shikamaru. Can we talk?" Haru asked. He signaled to the rooftops. Shikamaru nodded. Better than going to class at the moment.

"What do you want?"Shikamaru asked as they made it outside. He really wasn't in the mood at the moment.

"How do you feel about me and Ino getting married?" Haru asked.

"What do you want me to say?" Shikamaru responded.

"What you feel."

"Well to be blunt. You'll never love her like i do. I'm pissed off and hurt at the same time and I really don't want to go to your damn wedding. OKAY?" Shikamaru said.

"I see. Well you know earlier today. Ino was crying. She doesn't want to marry me. She was waiting for you all this time to do something about it. But you hesitated, now you lost your chance." Haru said. "Just come to the wedding please. Us three were so close. Now look at us now. This isn't how i want it to be. Promise me, promise me that you'll talk to Ino before the wedding.

And that's what Shikamaru found himself doing before the wedding started. Ino was admiring herself in the mirror as he let himself in.

"Ino..." Shikamaru said out loud as he startled her.

"Shika-k-Shikamaru...what are you doing here?" Ino asked. Shikamaru let out a bitter smile. She was trying to stop calling him Shika-kun.

"Are you really sure about marrying Haru?" Shikamaru asked. "Is this really what you want?"

"Who do you think you are?" Ino said taking a step back away from him. Ino gasped as Shikamaru grabbed her wrist and pressed her against the wall. Her blue eyes widened once she realized that Shikamaru had kissed her. She felt like her body was going to break down. Her legs immediately got wobbly and if it wasn't for the wall behind her, she would have fallen. The kiss was hot and full of emotions. The two finally parted leaving Ino breathless.

"Tell me you didn't feel anything in that kiss!" Shikamaru said.

"I didn't" Ino said coldly. "You have no right to reject me then come to me on MY wedding day and kiss me. I'm marrying Haru and that's final." The two were silent when they heard knocking on the door.

"Ino-pig?" A voice said from the other side. Ino recognized it as Sakura.

"O-One minute!" Ino stuttered as she pushed Shikamaru out the window. "Leave!"

"You're not going to change your mind. Stubborn and troublesome as usual." Shikamaru commented as he left the room.

Shikamaru found himself with Sasuke and Neji outside the chapel. Ino had just gone in with her father.

"Leave the rest to us." Neji said. "Just go in there and kidnapped your bride."

Shikamaru nodded as he went to the back and sneaked in. He found it funny that everyone was looking at the front doors. Did everyone expect him to object in the wedding? Haru had noticed him and gave him a smile as he stepped away from his spot and took the position of the celebrant.

"At this time, I'll ask you, the groom and bride, to face each other and take each other's hands." The Priest asked. "Groom, will you take Ino Yamanaka to be your wife, your partner in life and your one true love? Will you cherish her friendship and love her today, tomorrow and forever? Will you trust and honor her, laugh with her and cry with her? Will you be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

Shikamaru smiled.

"I may not be your prince but is your knight in shining armor okay?"

**How was that? I made ShikaIno happen. If you're still confused about certain things in the chapter, most of them will most likely get explained in the next chapter as it leads us to Naruto's birthday and the preparation to finish the next mother goal. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Oh I was wondering. Would you guys like it if i add mini side stories after the future chapters like how like was when Minato was alive and side stories with other characters? Just a thought. Please review everyone.**

**-Kumiko  
**


	19. Ghost From The Past

**Finally found time to update. Let's carry on with the next chapter. Let's see how Naruto's birthday turns out. **

**Sakura Kiss**

Today is Friday, but it isn't just any Friday. It is…

"The Friday before Naruto's birthday is finally here!" Ino said happily. "Finally get a chance to see 2PM with my favorite girls. Too bad I can't go with you girls tomorrow."

Hinata and I turned our heads in surprise. "Say what?" I asked.

"W-W-Why not?" Hinata asked.

We girls were in the cafeteria eating our lunches as Ino decided to drop the bomb on us.

"My parents want me to visit Haru's parents and apologize for not marrying their son. How troublesome…" Ino said as she had an expression that resembled that of Shikamaru.

Hinata and I giggled. Those two were really perfect for each other.

"So, to make up for not being able to go, I will have Temari or Gaara go with you!" Ino exclaimed.

"Go with her where?" Said a deep voice. It was no other than Gaara.

"Gaara! Perfect timing!" Ino said as she slapped him on the back. Gaara glared at her but soon went to sit beside me. "You shall be escorting our lovely Sakura to go watch the 2PM concert tomorrow night with Hinata and her idiot."

"It will be like a double date then!" Chouji commented as he arrived at the table with three trays of food.

"D-Date?' Gaara said as he turned to me. I noticed his cheeks turned a slight pink. How cute.

"Sure, you can think of it as that." I smiled. A friend date with Gaara seemed interesting. He usually isn't one to go to these types of things, so it's good for him to try.

"Sakura has a date tomorrow night!" Ino squealed out loud. Before I knew it, a blonde blur came and knocked me down.

"SAKURA-CHAN! SAY IT ISN'T SO!" Naruto cried.

"Naruto!" I growled as I punched him.

"How did you even know?" Ino asked. "You weren't even in the cafeteria."

Naruto got up and smirked. "My Sakura-senses were tingling."

"Um…N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata began to say. My smile grew. This was your chance Hinata!

"Yes Hinata?" Naruto asked as he smiled at her. Hinata's face grew red but she stood her ground.

"I-I want to invite you to the 2PM concert tomorrow as a birthday gift for you." Hinata said as she quickly pulled out a ticket and handed it to him. Naruto's eyes widened as his mouth dropped a bit.

"Hinata…" Naruto said in a serious tone. Hinata was in the shock of her life when Naruto had lifted her up and spun her around in the air.

"Of course I would love to go!" Naruto said happily. "You don't know how happy this makes me!" Before we all knew it, Naruto had placed a kiss on our innocent Hinata's left cheek. I could hear all the Naruto fan girls crying their hearts out.

"I'll see you in class later!" Naruto waved goodbye as he left the area. A loud thump was heard as Hinata had fainted to the ground.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

The next day, Neji had treated us out for lunch to celebrate Naruto's birthday. Hikaru decided to stay back. He had work in a couple minutes. We all had to dress up nice as a limo arrived in the front of our house.

"Neji! You're the best!" Naruto grinned as he happily skipped to the limo.

"This was really sweet of you, Neji-kun!" I smiled.

"It's the least I can do. It's been a while since we've all went out to celebrate the idiot's birthday." Neji said.

"Last time we celebrated, it was when he turned 8." Shikamaru said. "This was before Minato adopted us all. It was the time his guardian was Iruka-sensei. I've never seen him so happy. He was going on and on about how he was glad he was able to spend the day with his friends." Shikamaru let a small smile appear on his face.

"Let's go…" Shino said as we headed out. I still wasn't used to wearing nice dresses such as this. I was wearing a long red dress with a large v cut in the back. My hair was half up and curled. I must say, I was rather too dressed up to be just eating out. I looked at my sons to see them in suits.

When we arrived to the restaurant, I was shocked to see how nice it was. It was on the top of a 34ft building.

"Oh my gosh!" I said surprised.

Shikamaru chuckled. "Like it?"

"Hello everyone!" Shizune, Jiraiya, and Tsunade were in the front waiting for us. It was Tsunade that greeted us.

"Why are they here?" I asked.

"They were really close to Minato and they wanted to celebrate Naruto's birthday in place of him." Sai explained.

We entered the restaurant as everyone turned to look at us.

"It's the Namikaze brothers!" one of the girls explained. I looked around the crowd and was surprised to see famous faces around here.

"Surprised huh?" Tsunade asked me. "This restaurant is one of the top 10 international restaurants. People from all over the world come to eat here, especially the celebs. So how's the whole mother life going? I hope they aren't giving you too much of a hassle."

I let out a chuckle. "Boys will be boys, but I can handle them."

Tsunade let out a smile. "Just like your mother…"

My eyes widened. "You knew my mom?"

"Ah yes, she's actually an old student of mine. She was a great woman." Tsunade said to me. "I'm glad to see she had a lovely daughter."

"If only you knew…" I muttered.

"Did you say something?" Tsunade asked.

"Nope!" I shook my head. I walked over to the boys as they left me a spot between Sasuke and Sai. I felt an awkward aura around the table.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. I wondered if Naruto told them about tonight.

"Everyone keeps staring at us." Shizune said lightly. "Well, more like staring at you."

"That's because Sakura-chan is pretty." Naruto smiled.

"Stop kissing up to her." Sasuke said.

"Shut up Teme. You know it's true." Naruto said.

"They are probably looking at you guys. You are famous to the girls." I said.

"They weren't even looking at us anymore after you entered the place." Neji commented. "The guys were mostly looking. I wouldn't really blame them. You look stunning."

Everyone's mouth dropped as I turned red with embarrassment.

"Did the Ice Princess really just compliment someone? A girl, none or less?" Naruto gasped.

"Shut the fuck up and order." Neji growled. His cheeks were a tad pink.

"Oh Sakura!" Kakashi said looking up from his book. "I heard you have a date tonight."

"Can we stop talking about me and more of Naruto? It is his birthday!" I said. My family was so weird.

"Date?" Shino questioned.

"As in a day where a boy and girl spends special time together?" Sai asked.

"Where they enjoy each other's company?" Shikamaru asked.

"When did this guy ask you?" Neji asked.

"Who does this guy think he is?" Sasuke asked.

I turned my glare to Kakashi who quickly went back to his book. That bastard.

"Ino couldn't make it, so a guy friend of mine is going to take me. Don't worry. Naruto and Hinata will be there as well. We're going to celebrate his birthday at the 2PM concert." I said. "It's no big deal."

"Is it Hikaru?" Sai asked.

"No. You'll see him later. Can we drop it please?" I growled. The lunch went without any trouble after that. Once we all got home, I took a nap. I woke up around 5: 30 and got ready. I took a nice bath that had a rose scent. It was so relaxing that I was about to fall asleep. I soon got out and began to change. I wore a black frilly skirt with a red halter. I left my hair down as wore black boots. The clock read 7:30 pm. Gaara and Hinata should be here soon. I head downstairs to see Naruto ready as well.

"Change." Sasuke said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. A frown was found on his features.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"I said to change. You're not wearing that." Sasuke said.

I growled. Not this again.

"I like it. Sakura looks hot!" Hikaru commented from the kitchen. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm wearing it and that's final. Let's go Naruto." I said grabbing his arm.

"At least let us see who your date is." Shikamaru said. "It will stop them from whining."

The bell rang as Naruto went to open the door. Hinata entered the house wearing a silky white blue dress that went up to her knees followed by 1-inch heels.

"You look pretty Hinata!" Naruto grinned. Hinata turned red as she tried not to faint.

"Do anything vile to her and I'll kick your ass…" I heard Neji mutter. So he does have a soft spot for Hinata.

"Where's-"I didn't finish since the man in question entered the household.

"Let's go." Gaara said from outside the house. "Kankuro is waiting in the car."

I noticed that the guys were going to say something but I gave them a glare that shut them up. I closed the door behind me and headed to the concert.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"Gaara?" Sasuke questioned. "She's going with him?"

"No need to be jealous." Shino said. "Hinata told me that they're just best friends."

"I'm not jealous." Sasuke muttered as he glared at Shino.

"It's obvious that Gaara likes her. Why are we handing her to him?" Sai asked.

'_It's even more obvious that you two like her'_ Shikamaru thought. Ino had talked to him about it. No matter how troublesome the idea was, he couldn't ignore the fact that Sai and Sasuke were jealous of Gaara. Shikamaru looked at the silent Hyuga to see him frowning. He smirked. Neji was interested in Sakura as well. Shino, he knew, just thought of Sakura as a friend/mother and Naruto thought of Sakura as a sister. Hikaru obviously had the hots for Sakura but he didn't seem like he was serious. The older guys seemed to be attracted to his mother like Deidara, Itachi, and maybe Hidan from what he heard. Sasori no doubt was keeping an eye on them to make sure they didn't do anything to his little sister. But the only adult that the Namikaze brothers had to watch out for was Kakashi-sensei. He was a dangerous man. He had also heard that the girls were already betting on who Sakura would fall in love with.

Ino had betted on her cousin Deidara or Sasuke, saying it was obvious.

Hinata had surprisingly betted on Sai. He thought she would root for her cousin. I guess not.

Tenten chose to bet on Neji and Kakashi saying that Neji was her best friend so of course she'd back him up and having the forbidden teacher/student relationship was the new thing nowadays.

Temari, of course, had betted on Gaara.

Even Tsunade, Shizune and Kakashi got involved with the bet.

Tsunade chose Neji, Shizune chose Sai, and Kakashi chose Sasuke.

To be honest, he believed it would go down to at least Sai and Sasuke, which wasn't good. It would just cause their rivalry to get worse.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru finally said. "Let her go out and have fun. We've been letting her work so hard here in the house. So let her be."

"So you agree with her going out with him?" Neji asked.

"I never said that." Shikamaru said. "Don't get so riled up because of little competition." He muttered the last part.

"What was that _little brother_? I didn't quite hear you perfectly." Neji said with a mocking tone.

"Why don't you, Sai, and Sasuke figure that out?" Shikamaru said as he yawned. "I'm going to bed. Night."

"What's that smart ass going on about now?" Sai asked before heading to his room.

"Hn." Sasuke said as he followed suit.

Hikaru just chuckled before looking over at Shino. "Your brothers sure are stupid."

"Ah." Shino nodded.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"WELCOME EVERYBODY!" The leader of 2PM said on stage. The on-going screams erupted in the building. Sadly, Naruto was one of them.

"OMG!" Naruto screamed and a random girl in the crowd clapped hands with each other. I turned red with embarrassment.

"Idiot…" Gaara muttered to me. "Is he secretly gay or something? I don't even know what Hinata even sees in this guy." I let out a laugh.

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered. I wondered if she's embarrassed like I was. How girly could Naruto be?

The concert went on normally. I guess if you count the boys on stage pulling up their shirts and showing their bodies. YUM! I think I'm drooling a bit. Where's Ino when I need her. Hinata was suffering from a light nosebleed. Gaara rolled his eyes as the girls' screams got louder.

"Sakura…" Gaara said a bit annoyed. "Are you drooling?"

"N-No!" I said as I turned around to hide my face from him. Soon something caught my eye. My blood turned cold with fear and anger.

No. It couldn't be…

"Sakura…"

Why was HE here?

"S-Sakura-chan?"

I lost sight of the guy when Gaara's and Hinata's worried faces came into view.

"Are you alright?" Hinata asked me as she held my hand. I shook my head before looking up at Hinata and gave her a smile.

"I thought I just saw a ghost from the past." I said with an awkward laugh. "Don't worry. I must have been seeing things."

After an hour or so, 2Pm ended their show with their song Heartbeat. Naruto sang loudly next to us. The people around us laughed. The concert ended as 2PM threw their shirts into the crowd. Naruto hastily grabbed most of them, much to the girls' dislike. The crowd began to disperse from the building.

"Happy birthday to me!" Naruto cheered happily.

"To think a member of the Student Council is actually a girly 2PM fan." Gaara commented.

Naruto blushed. "I guess I got a bit excited, huh?"

"That's an understatement." Gaara said. Naruto glared at him.

"Just shut up!" Naruto shouted.

Hinata and I laughed as we turned the corner. I soon bumped into something hard.

"I'm so sorry!" I said quickly as I bowed my head to the person.

"Sakura?" The voice said. I looked up and was shocked to see who it was. I could hear Gaara growling as Hinata glared at the person in front of us.

"O-Omoi-kun…" I let the name of my ex-boyfriend leave my lips.

**XxXxXxX**

Ino was riding in her family limo as a shot of pain went up her right leg. She remembered the injury she received on accident that fateful night.

"Why do I have a bad feeling?" Ino whispered to herself.

"Did you say something dear?" Her mother asked her. Ino quickly shook he head.

"No mother." Ino said as she looked outside the window.

"_Forehead-girl, I hope you're alright."_

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Well, look who it is." A female voice said from behind Omoi. I looked past his snow white hair and into the amber eyes of a red head. Both of them had very dark skin as they were linking arms.

"Karui…" I said. Shock was still evident in my face.

"Ah I see Gaara-kun is with you." Karui said looking at him. She saw him glaring daggers at herself and Omoi. "Still mad, huh?"

Karui got closer to me as she tugged on my long hair. "It seems like you grew your hair out. Do you think you can escape the past? Don't ever think that you can go back to being innocent. Not after what you have done. Not after what your rich friend had gone through. She will be scared for life and it was your fault. Does she still h-"

"Karui." Omoi said as he placed a lollipop in his mouth. "That's enough. Boss will be mad if we're late."

"We're leaving…" Gaara said quickly, pulling me away from the two. Naruto and Hinata followed silently. I let some of my tears fall and watch them land on Gaara's pale hand. If he felt the tears, he didn't show it. I hesitantly looked back to see Omoi giving me a sad smile before the doors closed behind us.

There was an awkward tension between us as Naruto decided to break it.

"What was that all about? How did you know the students from Cloud High?" He asked. I was silent. I looked at Gaara and Hinata signaling them not to say anything once I saw Hinata beginning to open her mouth.

"Just old friends of Gaara and mine. We fell out a couple years ago. So much drama so we split." I said as I stopped my tears quickly. It was Naruto's birthday. I didn't want to ruin it due to my own problems.

"Aw. I'm sorry to hear that Sakura-chan." Naruto said with a frowned. "I'll make sure they won't mess with you again."

'_Do you think you can escape the past? Don't ever think that you can go back to being innocent. Not after what you have done. Not after what your rich friend had gone through. She will be scared for life and it was your fault.'_

I closed my eyes. I knew that. I knew that I still wouldn't be forgiven. An image of Ino's injured body made me want to cry. Of course Inoichi Yamanaka didn't forgive me. I promised myself that i would never put my friends in danger ever again. I looked at Gaara who held my hand and gave it a friendly squeeze.

Gaara and I were close. Not romantically though. He was like a brother to me. He was there during the tough times and he was there during the incident. He helped me get over the pain and regret I felt. He knew what I felt or thought without me having to say anything. He knew me like the back of his hand. The same went to me as well. We were close. He was the peanut to my jelly. Did that even make sense?

Looking at his eyes, I could see him making a silent promise.

'_I won't let you get hurt by them ever again.'_

I smiled.

Thank you.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**Bonus story: **New Glasses for Shino

Shino was still trying to get use to living in Minato's house.

"Ah, let me introduce you to the others." Minato said happily to the 13 year old. Shino just nodded as his new guardian led him to the backyard where there were five other boys. There were four playing basketball as another was painting under the tree. Before Shino knew it, an orange blur had hit him square in the face, breaking his glasses in the process. Minato's mouth dropped as he glared at the boys who smiled sheepishly. A mini version of Minato came up to him and picked up his glasses from the floor.

"Aw man. We didn't mean to break your glasses. It was Teme's fault." The boy in front of him said. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. You must be Shino. Hey Minto, can we buy Shino some glasses? Sasuke should pay because he threw the ball."

"Shut up. It was your fault you were too short to catch it." Sasuke said.

"It's alright." Shino said as he opened his eyes and tried to get use to the light. Minato began to introduce everyone to each other.

"Why do you were sunglasses?" Shikamaru asked.

"My dad wears them a lot so he got me one." Shino said calmly.

"Well, we'll get you better ones!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'll make you look cool!"

"More like a dobe." Sasuke commented.

After a couple minutes, the seven of them were in an eyeglass store.

"Hey try this one on!" Naruto said as he handed Shino a pair.

Shino looked in the mirror and was met with a boy wearing cat eye glasses.

"No." Shino said, handing it back. Naruto's eyes got watery but said nothing.

Shikamaru soon came up to him and handed him nerdy glasses.

Shino quickly declined.

Sai decided to be unique and handed him ones with pink flamingos on each side.

"Are you serious?" Shino asked. Sai just shrugged and returned it.

Sasuke came and handed him glasses that seemed like Harry Potter would wear.

Shino shook his head.

"Hn." Sasuke said before going back to look at new ones.

Neji came up to him and gave him ones that guys on motorcycles wore.

Minato just laughed as he looked around himself. He soon found the perfect one for Shino and went to buy it.

When the family got home, Minato handed Shino a box.

"I hope you find it fitting." Minato smiled.

Shino looked up at him with his curious brown eyes as he opened the box. In front of him was dark sunglasses.

"WHAT! But Minato! That's the same thing he had before!" Naruto cried. "We're supposed to make him look cool!"

"Yeah, cat eye glasses are supposed to make him look cool." Sai said.

"He would look beast!" Naruto defended himself.

"Well, I find it very Shino-like!" Minato grinned as he ruffled Shino's hair. The others nodded in agreement. Shino smiled behind his coat, making sure that no one else could see him smile. His new family was weird, but to be honest, he liked it.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**This chapter was shorter than usual but I don't have time to update much. I am officially a college freshman! SJSU GO SPARTANS! Haha! I'll try my best to find time to update as fast as I can. Anyhoo. Did anyone smell the drama in the air? I wanted to bring the Kumo nins in the story. I never read a highschool fic that had the Kumos in. Hopefully I'm the first one. I wanted to be different. In most fics, there is always Konoha high, Sound high, and Suna high. So might as well introduce Cloud high haha. What is the history between the Kumos and Sakura and Ino? Find out later on in the story. Until next time. Please review everyone.**

**Love Kumiko**


	20. Nightmare At The Halloween Ball

**Do you guys like Naruto and Soul Eater? If you do, this chapter will be a treat for you! (Smiles). Hope you will enjoy this chapter as I had writing it. Please review everyone. It will make me very happy.**

**Disclaimer:** Anything that sounds familiar, isn't mine.

**Sakura Kiss**

I had awoken up around eight in the morning to get breakfast ready for the boys. I still couldn't' get last night's event out of my mind. I thought I had gotten over it, but I guess not. Heading to the living room, I was surprised to see Naruto in there watching a cartoon.

'_Today, there is someone I must assassinate!" _said a boy with light blue hair. He oddly reminded me of Naruto. He had a black sleeveless shirt and white pants. There seemed to be a star imprinted on his right arm. _"Right now, there is a rumor that is the talk of the academy! Sir Death's son is supposed to be enrolling! I can't let rumors that aren't about me flourish."_

'_Yeah. That's the type of guy you are.' _There was a cool guy in the back with a yellow and black jacket and maroon jeans. He had white hair and red eyes. He gave out a Sasuke-like vibe.

"What are you watching Naruto?" I asked as I joined him in the living room.

"It's an anime called Soul Eater. It's pretty epic. There's this girl who reminds me of you. She's really smart and has the tendency to attack her friends when they do something stupid." Naruto grinned as he returned his attention to the screen. I shook my head as I went to make breakfast. I was surprised to see Hikaru in the kitchen already.

"Hikaru?" I called out.

"Oh! Good morning Sakura-chan!" Hikaru grinned at me. "I'm almost done cooking breakfast so you can just relax for the day. Go watch Soul Eater with Naruto or something."

I frowned but did what he said. Heading back there was a new guy on screen. He was wearing a black suit. He had black hair with three white stripes on the left side. He reminded me of Sai kinda.

'_Fight against a shinigami and I can't vouch for your soul.'_

Soon a huge battle scene caught my attention as I took a seat next to Naruto. This anime was really interesting. It soon hit me! The next mother goal!

"I've got it!" I said happily. "We're going to dress up as them for Halloween!"

"Are you forreals Sakura-chan?" Naruto said excited too. "I call Blackstar!"

"And I'll be that Maka chick!" I grinned. Naruto and I gave each other a high five. "Maybe Hinata can play as your Tsubaki."

"Do you think she will?" Naruto asked. My eyes widened when I noticed his blush. OMG? Did he like Hinata?

"You can even ask her to the dance." I smiled. Naruto smiled back. "Jerk, you didn't even tell me."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"You like Hinata, don't you?" I said as I pointed my finger at him.

Naruto's blush increased. "Is it that obvious?"'

I let out a laugh. "Not as obvious as her crush on you." I muttered. I soon remembered the cigarettes I took from Shikamaru. Did it really belong to Naruto? As I was about to ask him, Hikaru came in and announce that breakfast was ready. Sigh, maybe another time. The boys all came downstairs.

"We need to discuss the plans for the Halloween event, since our own president isn't doing shit." I said.

Neji smirked. "Maybe Pinky should be president instead." Sasuke glared back.

"Anyways, we all need to dress up for the Halloween party. Naruto and I came up with us having a Soul Eater theme going on. Naruto will be Blackstar and I shall be Maka. Sasuke can be Soul Evans and Sai can be Death the Kid. The rest of you can choose." I smiled.

"Ino wants to dress up as Cinderella, so I'm dressing up with her as Prince Charming. What a drag…" Shikamaru said.

"I decided to be Vash the Stampede from Trigun." Shino said.

"I guess I'll be a prince." Neji muttered.

"Heh, it will go with that big ego of yours." Sasuke commented. He barely dodged the knife thrown at him. I glared at Neji who glared at Sasuke.

"Princess is more like it." Naruto joked. "His hair is nicer than Sakura-chan's!"

My eye twitched when I heard that. Neji just smirked when he saw my reaction.

"Naruto…" I growled.

"What I was gonna do to you is nothing compared to what mother is gonna do." Neji warned. Shikamaru just chuckled as everyone else waited.

I grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt and dragged him to the living room. All everyone could hear was Naruto's girly cries for help.

"Isn't this child-abuse?" Sai questioned.

Sasuke shook his head. "The dobe deserved it."

I came back happily to the table as Naruto came in afterwards with tears in his eyes.

"What kind of brothers are you?" Naruto sobbed.

"Anyways, do you need any help with the event?" Shino asked me.

"Not really, I have an idea how I want to set up the school. We can have one of us in charge of making up the games. I still don't know how to get Tommy Heavenly6 and Girls Dead Monster to perform." I pouted.

"I know how we can, but I definitely won't like it…" Sasuke growled. I raised an eyebrow.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Sakura-san!" Tobi quickly went to glomp me. "Tobi has missed Sakura-san very much."

"Tobi…" Sasori growled as he pulled the childish adult away from me.

"Hey nii-chan." I greeted as I hugged him. His eyes widened as a light blush appeared on his cheeks. He slowly hugged me back.

"Ah! The hot bitch is back!" I rolled my eyes at Hidan's fowl language.

"To even think you were once a priest." Kisame commented. My mouth dropped. That asshole was a priest?

"Hn." Sasuke said as he and my sons were behind me.

"Sakura-san." Konan came to me. "What do we owe the pleasure of you coming to see us?"

We had contacted my brother into meeting us at Lee's Café. Supposedly the organization Akatsuki was known to having beautiful members. Adding that with the Student Council of Konoha Academy had people lining up just to take a peek. At least it was doing Lee some business.

"We need your help." I said. "You guys have different businesses. I was hoping if you guys have any connections with Tommy Heavenly6 and Girls Dead Monster. I wanted to have them perform for our school's Halloween party. I'll pay you as much as I charge, though it might take a while."

Pein smiled as he began to talk in his 'I AM GOD' voice. "I shall grant your request."

"Really?" I said, looking up at him in surprised. I looked back at my sons to see them happy for me except Sasuke. He was glaring at Itachi, who was glaring back. Oh brother…

"Yes, but in return-"Pein was caught off by Deidara.

"You must go on a date with me!" Deidara smirked. I heard girls squeal. Ino was obviously one of those girls. Kiba's, Lee's, Neji's, Sai's, and Sasuke's mouth dropped.

I blushed as I looked away. "Y-You're joking right?"

"Are you blushing?" Deidara asked as he got closer to my face.

Sasuke had pushed me behind him, away from Deidara's view.

"Tch…" Deidara frowned as Sasuke glared at him.

"Leave my sister alone, Deidara." Sasori said.

"Fine…" Deidara pouted as he back off.

"So you'll do it for me?" I turned to Pein. Pein shrugged.

"You're gonna have to make sure from Itachi. He's the one who has connections to them." Pein clarified. It then clicked, no wonder Sasuke wasn't sure about asking him.

"Itachi-san?" I turned to the silent Uchiha in the back. "Can you help me?"

Itachi stared at me with his onyx orbs before nodding. "I'll see what I can do. To return the favor, I'll bring that up to you another time."

"Thank you very much!" I said with a bow. I said goodbye to the Akatsuki and my friends working before I left with my family.

"She's so cute!" Deidara smiled.

"You know she's not even eighteen yet." Konan glared at him.

"That's not stopping Itachi and Hidan." Deidara said.

"Can you blame me? The bitch is hot." Hidan grinned. "I mean just look at those legs-"Before Hidan could finish his sentence, a chair was thrown at him, knocking him out. Sasori growled at each member.

"Don't even think about it." Sasori frowned.

"Over protective much?" Kakuzu commented as he was counting his stack of money.

"He has a sister-complex." Zetsu said. "**A very bad one."**

"I don't think it's a sister-complex…" Konan whispered to Pein. The two watch the expression on Sasori's face as Sakura turned back to wave back him. He seemed more calm and happy. "It's something greater than that."

"Ah." Pein said. Konan looked up at her boyfriend. Did he know something?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

It was a week before the Halloween bash! Most of the students helped set up the school. The hallways were decorated with so many things. The bash was all everyone was talking about. We had all gotten our costumes and couldn't wait to wear them. I was walking around the campus outside as I saw two girls fixing the garden. They were second-years. I noticed that a flower pot from up above had suddenly tilted and was heading the girls.

"Watch out!" I called out as I went and pushed the girls away from danger. The pot had shattered into pieces as the girls were freaking out.

"Are you alright?" I asked them. The girls blushed before they suddenly hugged me.

"Sakura-sempai! You saved us!" One of them cried. Her name was Naomi.

"It's her!" Another said. Her name was Suzuki.

"Her?" I questioned.

Naomi nodded. "The girl that died in room 666. Things in school always get weird around the time of her death. She died the day of Halloween."

"That's ridiculous. Ghosts, really?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It's true!" Suzuki said. "My friend got sent to the hospital last year because she went to that classroom as a dare. She was found on the floor with bruises."

"HEY YOU MAGGOTS BACK TO CLASS!" Anko-sensei had blown her P.E. whistle as the two girls quickly got up and left. Anko tsked when she saw the mess. "So she strikes again. I'll have that Danzo janitor clean this mess up."

I frowned as I looked back up at the room. Room 666 huh?

I quickly headed to the sixth floor of the school as I looked for the room. The hallways were empty since everyone was in third period. I knew I should be in Kakashi's class but he would be late as usual. I let out a small scream as my phone rang. It was Sai.

"Ugly, where are you?" Sai asked me. I growled at the nickname.

"Is Kakashi-sensei there yet?" I asked.

"No, but why aren't you in class?"

"I'm going to investigate something. Tell him I'm on Student Council duty at the moment."

"But-"I hung up on Sai as I put my phone on silent. No more distractions. I noticed that as I went further down the hallway, it got cold. Part of me was telling me to go back, but my other side was too curious. I finally found the room. It was the last one in the hall.

Something was pulling me towards the room. My hands were shaking as I raised my right hand to open the door. As soon as I was about to open the door…

"Sakura?" I immediately let go as I looked to see Kakashi behind me.

"Kakashi-sensei!" I said shocked as I looked to see him looking at me intensely. He closed the door behind me as he pulled out that perverted book of his.

"Haven't you heard the rumors of this classroom?" Kakashi asked as he led me away from the room by my waist.

"Is it true?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I'd ask my dad, but he's dead."

"I'm sorry. But why would you ask your dad?" I was confused.

"That's because he was the one who taught in that room." Kakashi said as if it was nothing.

"Your dad had a relationship with a student?" I gasped in shocked. Kakashi had looked away from his book as he pushed me against the wall. I gulped. What the fuck?

"Is there something wrong with a teacher being attracted to a student; especially a student as beautiful as you?" Kakashi asked as he lowered his masked face towards mine. I saw him lean towards me even more. I quickly closed my eyes to hear chuckles. Kakashi had backed off from me as he laughed. "Just kidding."

"Urg! I hate you! Shouldn't you be teaching in class?"

"Shouldn't you be in my class? It is third period." Kakashi said. Touché.

"What do you do that makes you late all the time?" I asked as we made it to the third floor.

"I had to meet up with my old friends. They used to teach here as well but one of them left and the other transferred out. The later invited me for lunch. She wanted to discuss to be about things." Kakashi said.

"She's your girlfriend?" I teased.

"Nope, she's together with my other friend, Obito." He smiled. Oh.

"Well, about the mother goal. I win. I was able to have all of them dress up." I smirked at him.

"Aw. And here I was hoping to have a nice date with you." He pouted.

"Pedo…" I muttered.

"What was that Sakura?" Kakashi asked as he raised an eyebrow at me. I wonder if he'd use this against me to lower my grade.

"Nothing Kakashi-sensei!" I said flakily. He just smiled as we arrived to class.

"Sorry I'm late everyone, I had to stop a student from ditching my class." Kakashi said. I rolled my eyes as I went to my seat next to Sai.

"LIAR!" The whole class shouted. I laughed. The time he tells the truth, the class doesn't believe me. I felt someone grab my hand.

"What the heck did you do?" He asked out loud, getting the whole class to look at us.

"NO! SAI-KUN!" The girls cried. I looked down at my hand to see bruises what seemed like finger prints. Sai continued to hold my hand, much to the dislike to the other people in the class. I could sense Ino giggling next to me. To my shock, Sai had kissed my hand. "Take better care of yourself, hag."

"IDIOT!" I screamed as I falcon punched Sai to the front of the class. The fan girls in the class fainted. Sasuke, Gaara, and Kiba were frowning for some reason.

"Well class, let's open the books to page 120." Kakashi said as if nothing happened.

I sat back down as I touched my cheeks. Why the hell were they hot?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Halloween had finally arrived as the school was ready for the big event. I had gone to the music room to change to my costume. Ino in her Cinderella outfit was waiting for me along with Hinata in her Tsubaki outfit. Temari and Tenten said they'd drop by later.

I walked out. My hair was up in a mid-ponytail. I wore a white blouse with a yellow sweater vest, a red plaid skirt, and black boots with white buckles. Covering my school girl outfit was a trench like coat with a cloak like end. In her hand was a hand-made scythe that Sai made for her in his spare time.

"How do I look?"

"You look cute. The whole bookworm look suits you!" Ino teased. I rolled my eyes as I looked over to Hinata. She really did a good job looking like Tsubaki. I was about to compliment Hinata when the lights in the room flickered off for a bit before going back on.

"No! I wanted tonight to be perfect!" I frowned.

"Oh! But it is!" Ino grinned. "Her spirit is coming out! Hopefully she would take Ami and her bitches. It would do the school a big favor!"

Hinata and I giggled as we headed out to where the gang was at.

"I am BLACKSTAR!" Naruto shouted.

"Idiot." Sai commented. He was dressed up at Death the Kid. I looked away quickly. He looked really good in that outfit. Wait! What was I thinking? I looked to see Sasuke bored looking around. He had this 'I'm cooler than you' vibe. Shikamaru had his Prince Charming costume. Ino and Shikamaru looked so cute with their matching costume. Shino was in his Vash outfit. Chouji was dressed up as a pumpkin. Kiba was dressed up as a werewolf. Gaara was dressed up as a Vampire. Hikaru was dressed up as Axel from Kingdom Hearts.

"Okay gang." Sasuke said taking charge. "I will assign you each a job. Gaara and Chouji, you two are in charge of taking the tickets and checking people in at the doors. Ino and Shikamaru, you're in charge of the food and drinks. Kiba, Shino and Hikaru, you guys are to make sure that Tommy Heavenly6 and Girls Dead Monster aren't disturbed in their dressing rooms. They're using Kurenai-sensei's and Asuma-sensei's rooms. Hinata and Naruto, you're going to handle the dance room. Sakura, Sai, and I will be in charge of the test of courage. We hired people to scare the students. We're going to make sure things don't get too out of control. Any questions?"

I was surprised. I never heard Sasuke speak so much.

"No President!" The gang said. Sasuke nodded as everyone went to their jobs.

"Sakura-san!" A youthful voice called out. I looked to see the old kids of the gang arrived.

"Lee-san!" He was dressed up as a beast.

"Lee! I told you not to run too fast! I'm not used to wearing heels damn it!" Tenten complained as she arrived. I gasped. Tenten was wearing a dress? She was dressed up at that chick form Beauty and the Beast. That's when it clicked. The two dressed up together. AW!

"Hey Saku!" Temari called out as she and her brother arrived. Temari was dressed up as a witch and Kankuro was dressed up as a zombie.

"You guys look good!" I said.

"Are you three cosplaying Soul Eater?" Kankuro asked. "You guys really play it off."

"Can we help with anything?" Neji arrived with prince outfit. It really suited him.

"Lee and Tenten, you two can help Shikamaru and Ino with the food." Sasuke said. Temari and Kankuro can help with the doors."

"That's more than enough for the doors." I quickly said. "Temari-chan, why don't you help Shino and the others to watch over the bands? I think they'd feel better if a girl was with them." I winked at her. She blushed before nodding. Neji offered to lead her to the groups.

After a couple hours people finally were lining up and dancing.

"Oi Sasuke!" It was Suigetsu, Karin, and Juugo. Suigetsu was the one who called out to him. I took in their appearance. Suigetsu was dressed up as a ghost. Karin was dressed up as a devil. I had to say, her outfit was slutty. The dress ended almost right under her butt cheeks. There was this tall guy I never saw and was dressed up as Frankenstein.

"Sasuke-kun!" Karin said clinging on to his arm. "We should dance together later."

"I'm busy Karin!" Sasuke said as he walked away to talk to Kakashi-sensei who surprisingly dressed up as Stein from Soul Eater.

"He so wants me!" Karin giggled. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"I don't know why you continue to pin after Sasuke when he obviously doesn't." Suigetsu frowned.

"Whatever!" Karin said sticking her nose up in the air. "I'm going to Ami." With that, she left.

Suigetsu rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about how she acts."

"It's okay!" I said waving my hands in front of me. Suigetsu smiled as he left.

"They like each other. It's annoying how they act towards each other. I'm Juugo by the way."

"Sakura Haruno." I introduced myself. He soon left after Suigetsu.

"Well, I guess it's just me and you." Sai said.

"Alright, so with the test of courage, I designed it to use the third floor to the sixth floor. Those who are able to retrieve the rumored red ribbon in the room wins a date with Sasuke is it's a girl and Sakura if it's a boy." Shizune said as she appeared out of nowhere. Sai and I jumped in shocked. JUST HOW DOES SHE DO THAT?

"Who are you supposed to be?" I asked Shizune.

"I'm dressed up as Maria from Soul Eater." Shizune smiled.

"I'm not a prize!" I glared at Shizune. She just smiled as she pulled me away from Sai. "You two look cute together!" My cheeks burned red.

"He's my son!" I said embarrassed.

"Well, the moment you finish all the mother goals, you won't have to be his mother anymore." Shizune grinned.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this from you!" I said.

"Well, back to the matter of things. You have just finished goal number five." Shizune said. "You will find out what the next goal is tomorrow when Kakashi and I come up with it. So carry on with your party." With that, Shizune disappeared.

"What was that about?" Sai asked me when I walked back to him.

"Mother goals." I said. "Well, let's go! We have a test to host!" I grabbed him by the hand as we walked up to the second floor. People were lined up. I noticed Kiba and Suigetsu were the first people in line.

"You guys seemed eager." I commented.

"Of course babe!" Kiba smiled at me. "You should save me a dance tonight."

"I never realized what a flirt you are." I joked. Kiba grinned.

The game began as Kiba and Suigetsu went first with three other people. We decided to let five people at a time go. They came back five minutes later saying that they forgot something downstairs. I heard Sasuke chuckle next to me.

"They're all talk." He commented. Sai sent the next group to go. For hours all the three of us could hear were screams and running. The people Sasuke hired to scare the students were really good. After a while, we decided to take a break as everyone went downstairs to see the bands perform. It was Girls Dead Monsters first.

"Is everyone having a good time!" Masami Iwasawa asked over the mic as she held her Fender Stratocaster. She is in charge of the vocals and is the rhythm guitarist. How do I know this? I'm a huge Girls Dead Monster fan. Not as crazy as Naruto is with 2PM, but somewhere up there.

People cheered as Hisako, the lead guitarist, strummed her fender jazz master electric guitar.

"Let's start the night by playing…" Iwasawa stalled as Irie did a drum roll. "…Crow song."

Sekine played her G&L L-2000 bass guitar as the rest followed.

The three of us made it in time to see the performance. I bobbed my hair to the song. Sasuke closed her eyes listening to them. Sai just watched as our classmates were jumping and cheering for them.

After a few songs, Iwasawa was switched with their second singer, Yui. Iwasawa came up to me, Sasuke, and Sai as we thanked her for her performance.

"Let's give a round of applause for Iwasawa! Now everyone! Let's get ready for round two!" Yui said with her childish voice. I was a bit worried as she was spinning around with the microphone stand a lot. I watched as she kicked the stand towards the ceiling as the wire went around her neck, lifting her up from the ground. Everyone was too shocked to move.

Shino had gone and helped her from dying. It was silent as Yui tried to get back into mode. "Let's continue on with ALCHEMY!"

Soon Yui was done singing as Iwasawa went back on stage and bowed with her band. People were cheering and throwing candy on stage. The room started to shake as the lights flickered on and off. The lights were acting up again. People thought it was part of the show as they cheered. I looked over to Naruto and the others who shrugged. Soon smoke appeared on stage as Tommy Heavenly6 appeared.

"Are you ready to rock?" A familiar tune entered my ears. She was starting the show with Paper moon.

"This is the opening of Soul Eater!" I heard Naruto announce. The singer made eye contact with me. I was a bit freaked out. What the heck man? Before I knew it, I felt a chill run down my spine as the doors opened out of nowhere. The windows in the room all shattered. People were screaming and ducking for cover.

"Sakura!" Sasuke and Sai grabbed me and covered my body with their own.

I looked up to see something forming near the doors to the school. She had long black hair and red eyes. Her uniform seemed really different from our school's uniform. That's when it clicked. Was that the ghost of room 666?

"It was the ghost!" A girl screamed out loud as people screamed after her.

"Sai, Sasuke, I saw the ghost at the door. We have to stop her!" I said as I got up. I quickly looked down to see people panicking. How was I to calm them down? I looked to see Sasuke running towards the stage and talking to the stage people. The lead singer nodded as she handed Sasuke the mic. Sasuke nodded his head as the band began to play.

_Sabita kokoro no  
tobira no kagi wa  
itsumo chikaku de  
waratte iru kara_

I gave Sasuke a surprised look. His eyes were telling me that he was going to buy me time. I nodded as I ran out of the room. I felt Sai run next to me.

"Sai?" I looked at him confused.

"As if I'm going to let you deal with something dangerous on your own." Sai said. I nodded. We bumped into Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi-sensei who said they had sensed something as well. I laughed at the irony. Only the people dressed up as Soul Eater characters were here. We had gotten flashlights from Shizune's office. She was there along with Ino and Shikamaru. Shikamaru told me he had the others take care of the party. He was worried when he saw me running out of the gym.

We all made it to the third floor where the test of courage started. Kakashi, in his Stein costume, stood in front of us as he stared at the long and dark hall. The Icha Icha paradise was in his hands. Sasuke had caught up to us a few minutes earlier.

"Here we are." Kakashi said. "Our enemy is very powerful. If you aren't prepared for what lies ahead, you may leave. If you want to turn around…" Kakashi paused as he put the perverted book away. "…better do it now.

Sasuke smirked as he fixed the headband on his head. Naruto had a serious face as he adjusted his gloves. Hinata tightened her hair tie. Sai fixed his suit. Ino ripped the excess part of her dress to help her move better. Shikamaru moved his cape behind him. I stepped forward as I gripped onto my fake scythe.

"We're going!" I spoke for the group. Shizune and Kakashi smiled.

"N-Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" I heard Hinata ask Naruto. He had tears in his eyes.

"T-This was just like the last part of Soul Eater episode 18!" He cried.

Sasuke and I kicked Naruto in the head with our feet. "BAKA!"

"Let's go!" Ino said as we walked to face the ghost of room 666.

**Woo Hoo! I hope you liked this chapter. I noticed the similarities of Naruto and BlackStar so I had him cosplay as him for Halloween along with the other group members. I wish I could see a picture of the group getting ready for battle. I'd draw one but my drawings suck haha. If you guys could draw one, I'd be so happy lol. You don't have to haha. Anyhoo. The gang will be facing the ghost of room 666. Find out what happens next time! Please review everyone.**

**Love Kumiko**


	21. Goodbye Hikaru

**I have updated! Yea me! Well, let's carry on to the gang. How will they handle the ghost of room 666.**

**Sakura Kiss**

I gulped as I took the first step towards the hallway. Everyone was behind me, ready for anything to happen. I continued to move forward as I sensed the floor had vibrated. Long black hair emerged from the staircase as the girl I saw earlier appeared.

"_Do you want to play a game with me?"_ She asked.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "We didn't do anything wrong to you!"

"_I didn't do anything wrong, yet I was killed. Where's the justification in that?"_ She asked.

"What's your name?" Naruto asked.

"_Tsubame…Tsubame Takahashi."_ She whispered. I watched as her red eyes fell upon Kakashi. Her eyes widened as the lockers began to open and close_. "YOU! You were Sakuno's child. Where's your father now?"_

"He died a year after your death." Kakashi said. Kakashi was soon pushed to a locker.

"Kakashi!" Shizune said going up to him.

"Stop it!" I shouted at her. "Enough with the games! How can we help you?"

"By dying!" She growled as the windows in the hall shattered. Ino began to levitate as her body was thrown out the window.

"INO!" I shouted. Shikamaru quickly dove to catch her. Tsubame laughed as she floated to the next floor.

"Shika-kun!" Ino cried out. She was dangling three stories high. Shikamaru started to lift her up. "Sakura, go and stop her."

I nodded as I ran up the stairs after her. The others followed.

"This is getting dangerous." Sasuke warned me.

"I know, but we have to stop her before she hurts anyone else." I said. We made it to the fourth floor as we looked around. It seemed pretty normal. Naruto ran blindly to the middle of the hallway.

"Come out! You are no match for Black-I mean NaruStar!" Naruto shouted. Naruto took another step and that's when everything happened in slow motion. The floor opened up as a black root came out. Hinata quickly pushed Naruto out of the way as it pierced through her stomach. Naruto fell to his butt as his eyes widened.

"HINATA!" I screamed in horror. Hinata didn't respond as the black thing was wrapping itself around her.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto growled as he slid to the floor as he grabbed Hinata into an embrace. The black thing was taking both of them. "Hinata!"

"Naruto! Hinata!" I called out, moving to save them. Sasuke held me back.

"If you touch that, it will take you too." Sasuke warned me.

"Let me go! I have to save them!" I cried out. He pulled me away from Naruto and Hinata as I watched them get sucked into the black hole. I grew angry by the second.

"STOP HIDING!" I screamed. Tsubame appeared on the steps as I chased after her. I followed her to the sixth floor as she ran into the room where she died. I was a bit hesitant.

"Don't!" I could hear the faint yell of Sai. I took a deep breath as I ran into the room. I was met with darkness as the only exit behind me closed. I was trapped.

"You're a brave one. I like you. You are so beautiful, just like the vice president we had when I was alive. You look like her too." Tsubame said. Her voice circled around me. I didn't know what direction she was in. I wasn't scared though. Sakura Haruno was never scared!

"Show yourself!" I demanded. Before I knew it, she flew towards me with her dead like face. She kissed me on the lips as I let the darkness take over.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Neji made sure the bands had left the school safely. He and Tenten played it off saying it was part of the show. He was beginning to get worried when his mother didn't come back with Sai and the others. Before he knew it, the lights were flickering on and off again.

Neji looked over to Shino to see him giving a worried look.

"Tenten." Neji said grabbing Tenten by the shoulder. "Take care of the party. Something is wrong. Sakura hasn't come back yet."

His best friend looked at him worriedly. "Tell me immediately if there's something wrong. If Sakura gets hurt, I will kick your ass." Tenten threatened. Neji nodded as he and Shino left the scene. The two brothers made it to the third floor where they met Shikamaru and the others.

"Shikamaru!" Neji called out. He noticed the shattered mirrors as Ino had cuts on her arms as well as Shikamaru.

"The ghost. Your mother went up ahead to stop the ghost." Shizune said as Kakashi was slowly waking up. "We'll meet up with you guys later."

Shino nodded as Neji and he went up to the fourth floor and saw nothing. They made it to the sixth floor where they saw Sasuke and Sai trying to break into room 666.

"Where's mom?" Shino asked.

"That idiot ran into this room." Sasuke growled.

"She's in there by herself?" Neji asked.

"We can't break in." Sai said.

"Back up." Neji said as he moved his cape behind him. He closed his eyes as he got into position. Soon his hands were attacking the door. It finally broke open, but not because of Neji. There standing in front of them was Sakura with red eyes smiling seductively at them.

"_Hello boys."_ Sakura winked.

"Tsubame, release Sakura now!" Sai ordered.

"_Threatening a ghost, are you? You're a brave one!"_ Tsubame laughed. The boys didn't like how it was coming out of Sakura's lips.

"Why are you doing this?" Shino asked.

"_No one cared that I died. But you guys care if she's possessed. It's not fair!"_ Tsubame screamed. Her scream shattered more windows as the lockers were opening and closing again.

"Tsubame." A voice called out. Tsubame looked to see Kakashi and Shizune standing behind the boys.

"_Sakuno-no…Kakashi." _Tsubame said.

"Release my student. She didn't do anything wrong. She's trying to help you." Kakashi said.

"_Your father didn't feel any pain when I died. He left me to die!" _Tsubame cried. Kakashi sighed as he slowly walked up to her and pulled her into a hug. Sakura's body was cold.

"He didn't know until it happened. That chick had other guys lock him up in the janitor's closet. When he finally escaped, it was too late. He really cared about you. When my mother died giving birth to me, my father was so sad. I blamed myself. But when he met you, I noticed how happy he became. He truly loved you. Can't you let go of the past and move on?" Kakashi asked.

Tsubame backed away from him as she flew to the other side. _"It's not fair. Not fair at all! I deserved to be loved like this by everyone! No one cared to help me."_

Sasuke growled. And he thought that Sakura was annoying. This ghost's voice was giving him a headache.

"That's it!" Sasuke growled out as he pulled her by the waist. He almost blushed when he saw how close his face was to Sakura's. "That's enough with your whining! If you really want to be loved, then leave Sakura alone. She's been chasing your annoying ass to help you. So just shut the fuck up and bring her back."

Everyone's mouth dropped as Sasuke had cupped Sakura's face and kissed her. Shizune looked over to Sai to see him glaring at Sasuke but looked away. Sasuke slowly pulled away as he saw Sakura's red eyes turn back to those viridian eyes he always knew. "Sasuke-kun…" He heard Sakura say as she slumped towards his chest. Sasuke fell down with her as he saw a ball of energy forming in front of him. It was Tsubame, but this time, she looked happier.

"_I'm sorry,"_ She said with a light blush. She then looked at Kakashi. "_Thank you for opening my eyes. Hopefully, I can see Sakuno soon."_ With that she dispersed. A black portal opened as Naruto and Hinata popped out. Naruto quickly got up and looked around.

"Alright ghost, where did you go? I'm going beat you up?" Naruto said. Hinata slowly got up.

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata said as she ran to where Sasuke and Sakura was.

"She's fine." Sai growled as he watched Hinata pull Sakura towards her. He continued to glare at Sasuke who smirked back.

"Jealous?" Sasuke mouthed.

Naruto looked between the two brothers. "Was there something I missed?"

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Two days passed by as it was November 2nd. I still couldn't get over the fact that I got possessed. Neji continued to ask me if I remembered anything from that night. I told him I didn't. He, in return, said that it was a good thing I didn't. What happened that night I wondered? Sasuke and Sai seemed to fighting even more since. I stared at my calendar and noticed the big red circle around the 3rd. My eyes darkened. I went through some of the boxes in my closet and found the family portrait of my parents, Sasori, and me when I was three years old. Tomorrow was the anniversary of the day my family broke, the day my parents died in that crash. I was planning on bringing the boys but that would be awkward.

The next day, I dressed up in black as I headed out the door. I decided to walk to the cemetery instead of asking someone to take me. I finally made it to the cemetery as I walked the path towards my parents' tombstone. I was surprised to see someone in front of them. Looking closely, it was no other than Sasori.

"I won't ask you to forgive me…" I heard Sasori say to our parents.

"Hey…" I said as I walked up behind him. Sasori looked up from his praying as he scooted over for me to kneel next to him.

"It's been a while since all of us had been together." Sasori said. "It must have been hard for you to lose them in such a young age."

"It must have been harder to you since you were the first child born. You had our parents' love the longest." I whispered. Sasori gave me a sad smile.

"To be honest, I was scared when they died. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to take care of you. I was a bad brother to you…" He said.

I shook my head as I held his hand in mine. "You're the best brother I ever had. I love you." I smiled. He blushed a bit as he pinched my cheeks.

"Must you say something so embarrassing?" He said.

I laughed. "That's because you're my only brother. It's the little sister's job to embarrass her brother." Sasori opened his mouth but closed it.

"What's wrong?" I asked worried. He looked like he was keeping a deep dark secret.

"Nothing." He smiled. "Well, I have to go meet Deidara later. I'll see you around." He and I got up as we hugged. He placed his soft lips on my forehead before leaving. I sighed as I looked at the tomb next to my mother's. Minato Namikaze…

It was odd how Minato's grave was right next to my mom's. I placed flowers on all three graves as I did another prayer. This time, it was for Minato.

"Hey Minato-san…" I said as I touched his grave. "How are you? The boys are a handful, do you know that? I'm doing those ridiculous mother goals Shizune and Kakashi are forcing me to do." I let out a sad smile. "Why did you have to die?"

**Flashback**

_It had been a week since Minato took me in. It was lunch time as I had come out of my room after taking a shower. Minato wanted to make me something for lunch so he told me to wait. Going downstairs, I saw Minato dealing with a pan on fire._

"_It burns!" He cried out. I sweat dropped. That idiot!_

"_Here," I said taking the pan from him and placing in on the sink._

"_Sorry about that Sakura-chan." Minato sheepishly grinned at me. "I got too excited."_

_I sighed. "It's okay. Why don't we just go out to eat?" I said._

"_No!" Minato said. "I have a better idea." I watched him dash to his pantry. I rested my head on the table. It was summer time and it was freaking hot outside. Luckily he had AC! Minato came back and placed something in front of me._

"_Ramen…" I read the name on the Styrofoam cup. "What is this?"_

_Minato's mouth dropped as he cried. "You don't know what ramen is? How could she raise you without knowing what ramen is?" _

"_Huh?" I looked at him as I raised an eyebrow._

"_This is the best food ever. One of the guys that live here loves this stuff!" Minato grinned. "I bought packs of them."_

"_When will I get to meet them?" I asked._

_He shrugged. "They come and go." I noticed he had a sad smile._

"_You're too kind for your own good. You're girly too." I muttered._

_He tilted his head back and laughed. "That's what my wife said about me when we first met."_

"_Do you have a picture of her?" I asked. He nodded as he took out his wallet. I looked to see a beautiful woman with long red hair and beautiful blue eyes. _

"_She's beautiful." I smiled._

"_Ah." Minato said. "I wish you two could have met. She'd love you like a daughter." _

_We smiled at each other as we waited for our ramen to cook._

"_Hey Minato…" I began to say._

"_Hm?" _

"_Thank you for taking me in." I said with a light blush._

"_Like I said before Sakura-chan, we're family."_

**End of flashback.**

I opened my eyes as tears were falling down my cheeks. I had grown to love Minato like a father. I couldn't help it; he just gave out a fatherly vibe to me, even though we were married. We never kissed or anything. His actions towards me were fatherly, nothing more. He didn't replace the spot my father had in my heart, but Minato had gotten close. The loneliness I felt was going away. I slowly got up as I heard people coming. Look ahead, I saw the Principal Tsunade and the vice president Jiraiya. I quickly ran to hide.

"Ah, we're here." Jiraiya said as Tsunade followed behind him with bouquet of flowers. I was surprised when she placed flowers on both my parents' and Minato's graves. It was then that I remembered Tsunade had known my mom.

"Can you believe it had been seventeen years since these two had been together?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya. I felt really confused. My parents must have been together longer than that since Sasori was five years older than me.

"It took death to bring them back together." Jiraiya said. "It's truly a shame that Minato and Hana weren't able to fix the conflict between them after Sakura was born."

My eyes widened. Minato knew my mother?

"Well, Minato did come from a very rich family." Jiraiya said.

"So did Hana. But Daisuke really loved her." Tsunade said.

"And Kushina and Minato loved each other as well." Jiraiya murmured. "At least he had his wish come true before he died." The two prayed before leaving. Making sure they were completely gone, I got up from my hiding spot and sprinted home. There was a mystery to solve!

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

I came home to see Sasuke and Sai arguing once again as the rest of the brothers watched. Hikaru had gone to meet up with his parents at the airport. I completely ignored them as I quickly walked towards Minato's room for the first time in months. My actions had caused the boys to look at me. Naruto had quickly gotten up and followed me.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" Naruto asked me as he put a shoulder on my hand. "Why are you dressed up in black? ARE YOU GOING EMO LIKE TEME?" Naruto shouted.

"It was my parents' death anniversary…" I said. Naruto's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry…" He said. I shook my head as I entered the room and went straight to his closet. There were many boxes as Naruto had helped me bring it out. We had a total of five boxes as I began to open them. "What are you looking for?"

"Anything of Minato's that was from his high school years." I said. I saw Naruto flinch once I said that.

"Why are you interested in that?" He asked. I noticed that he had a serious tone now.

"Minato somehow knew my mom. I want to know how." I said. I didn't find anything in the first box as I went to the next one. I found nothing. Naruto had also gone through the other two boxes. We both looked at the last one as we nodded at each other. Together, we opened the last box. There were many letters and pictures inside. We dumped everything out as we went through them. There were awards in his days as the President of the school. I soon saw a couple photo albums. I opened one to see pictures of Minato during his first year in high school. He looked like Naruto. He was standing next to a boy who resembled Shikamaru.

"That was Shikaku. He's Shikamaru's father." Naruto told me. I nodded as I flipped the page. There were pictures of Minato and a couple guys. I could see Hinata's father Hiashi and his twin brother Hiashi. They looked like troublemakers. Next to the brothers was Inoichi who was checking out girls on his left. He was so different than the Inoichi I knew today. Minato was closer in the picture with Shikaku and what seemed to be Sasuke's dad as Naruto pointed out. I recognized Chouji's dad, Chouza. There was another man who resembled Shino. I figured that was his dad. Naruto told me his name was Shibi.

We went through more pictures of Minato and Jiraiya and Tsunade and a man who looked like a snake. There was another picture of Minato and a beautiful woman with long raven hair. She looked like Sasuke. Naruto said that was Mikoto, Sasuke's mother.

"Minato told me these two were the best of friends." Naruto grinned. "Sasuke and I are best friends and our parents were best friends. He was the one who got Mikoto and Fugaku together."

I went through the next page and saw a picture of Kushina in what seemed to be in her track outfit. She looked bad-ass. I flipped the page to see Kushina again but there was a girl next to her. My mouth dropped.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" Naruto asked me as he noticed my reaction to the picture. Bringing the album close to him, he examined the picture and dropped the album like it was on fire.

"HOLY HOKAGE! SAKURA-CHAN THAT GIRL NEXT TO MY MOM LOOKS LIKE YOU," Naruto shouted. He soon lowered his voice. "Is that your mom?"

I slowly nodded. "I didn't know my mom went to Konoha Academy. She told me she was homeschooled." I continued to look at the picture. This showed that my mother and Kushina were close, like best friends. They were wearing the old student council uniforms. I looked at the next page. It was a picture of Minato, Kushina, and my mom as the later was hugging him from behind. Minato just blushed as Kushina was making fun of him. I was confused.

"Naruto, what's the meaning of this?" I asked him.

He looked at the picture with an intense look. "It's probably nothing. My dad was a friendly person. Your mom and my mom were best friends along with Mikoto. Of course, Minato would become good friends with them. Let's not over think it and drop it." Naruto said getting up and stretching. "You go on ahead. I'll clean this up."

Was Naruto trying to kick me out of the room? I looked at him a little bit more before I closed the door. I went to head over to the boys as I felt someone grab me from behind and cover my mouth. I looked behind me to see that it was Shino.

When he realized I wasn't going to scream, he released me. "Shino! What the heck?" I whispered to him. He placed a finger to his lips as he signaled me to listen to the boys in the living room.

"You're so full of yourself." I heard Sai growl.

"You really are jealous, you fag!" Sasuke said. I could tell he probably smirked while saying that.

"Why would I be jealous, traitor?" Sai asked.

"You're mad because I was the one who kissed Sakura that night." Sasuke said.

My eyes widened with this information. WHAT THE FUCK?

"I'm not jealous!" Sai growled. "I'm going out for a walk. Tell the hag I'll be back later." I winced as I heard the slamming of the door.

"Did you have to push him like that?" Shikamaru asked.

"That was really immature of you two." Neji said.

"What was that Hyuga?" Sasuke asked.

"Both of you two stop." Shikamaru said raising his hand. "This is getting troublesome. She's our mother! You three have to understand that."

"Of course I understand that." Sasuke said. "She's annoying and a nuisance. But not as annoying as Hyuga over here."

"What was that you brat?" Neji asked as he grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his shirt.

"Are you going deaf already?" Sasuke asked. I wondered if that was true. Hinata told me once that the Hyuga clan as known for having the best eye sight. But in return, they were born with bad hearing.

"Are you going blind? It's you and Sai I'm worried about. You two have inappropriate feelings for her. Like Shikamaru said, she's our mother. I'm not stupid enough to fall for her. My feelings for Sakura-san are nothing more but friendship."

I lowered my gaze. I was a nuisance?

The door bell rang as I fixed myself and went to answer the door. I was surprised when I saw a blur of blonde tackle me to the ground.

"Oh Sakura, I missed you!" Ino said as she rubbed her cheek against mine.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Hinata said as she grabbed my hand.

"Sup!" Temari said as her and Tenten entered the house.

"What are you guys doing here?" I questioned.

"Did you forget?" Tenten asked. "It's our weekly girls' night. You haven't been to one in like forever."

"That's because the boys are hogging our lovely Sakura from us." Temari said glaring at the boys.

I laughed. "You four are too much. Come on; let's put your stuff in my room." I said. Ino greeted Shikamaru with a kiss as he helped carry her bags. The girls' mouth dropped when they saw my room.

"OMG!" Ino said. "This is your room?"

The girls were met with there was a king size bed in the middle. The walls of the room were a nice beige color with wooden floors. The room had a small bathroom and a walk in closet.

"Well this is a major upgrade from that cardboard box of yours." Ino teased. I rolled my eyes. Shikamaru left the room as I locked it.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked me.

"Did anything happen that night of the Halloween ball?" I asked slowly.

Ino squealed. "I can't believe I forgot to tell you something this juicy! You got possessed by that ghost! Then Sasuke-kun came and kissed you!" The girls gasped.

"Hold up," Temari said not being able to take this info in. "Are we talking about that cold bastard Sasuke Uchiha, you know the one with the stick up his ass?"

Ino giggled as she nodded. "To make it even better, Sai got extremely jealous!"

"Get it girl!" Tenten said as she slapped me on the back.

"If you guys haven't forgotten, they're my sons. I don't like any of them like that!" I said crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"Who's a better kisser? Sai or Sasuke?" Ino teased me once more.

"You kissed Sai too?" Hinata said with a gasp.

"It was an accident! Just drop it." I said bringing my hands to my cheeks.

"So you're trying to tell me you're not attracted to any of the boys in this house hold?" Ino asked. "That's such a total lie! Everyone here is fucking hot. I'm surprised you haven't jumped on any of them yet. Shikamaru is off limits, Temari has claimed Shino, and Hinata here is totally in love with Naruto."

"I'm not attracted to my son, got it!" I said.

It was silent between us for a bit before Ino decided to speak once more. I swear that girl cannot stay quiet. "There's always my cousin Deidara!" She grinned. "That boy has the hots for you!"

"And Kakashi-sensei!" Tenten smirked.

"T-Tenten! He's a teacher!" Hinata said embarrassed.

"That's what makes it even hotter my dear." Tenten laughed.

"If anything, there's always my brother Gaara. You two would look good together!" Temari said nodding her head as if agreeing with something in her head.

"H-How about Hikaru or Itachi-san?" Hinata offered.

I sighed. "I'll admit that Deidara is hot, but I dunno. Kakashi-sensei is out of the question. He'd look better with Shizune. Gaara is my best guy friend. Hikaru is just a friend and Itachi? I don't talk to him as much and I could never do that to Sasuke-kun. He'd feel like I betrayed him."

"Well, we'll just see how this goes. I just want you to find someone special." Hinata said calmly as she took my hands into hers. "After what happened with Omoi, I never felt so much regret it my life Sakura-chan. I-I failed to protect you." Hinata began to get teary. "So if anything…"

"You can just get with Hinata." Ino said as she was going through my nail polish set.

"EH?" Hinata and I said turning red.

"Yuri is the new trend, not that I'm going to try it." Ino said. "Eureka, I found it!" She pulled out a purple color and began to paint her nails. Temari frowned as she went to open the window. She didn't like girly stuff.

I started to laugh. "Alright, if worse comes to worse, I'll kidnap Hinata from Naruto." The girls laughed with me.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"TEME! TEME!" Naruto screamed as he ran to the backward where the boys were playing basketball.

"What's he going on about now?" Shikamaru asked.

"It's horrible! Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried.

"What happened to her?" Neji asked worried.

"So I was walking by Sakura-chan's room and I sort of eavesdropped on the girls' conversation. They were talking about her love life and then I found out that Sakura-chan is…"

"Spill it out dobe!" Sasuke growled.

"Our mother is lesbian or bi!" Naruto cried as he dramatically fell to the floor. "She's going to take Hinata-chan away from me!"

"What the fuck are you smoking?" Neji asked confused. "Hinata-sama is-"Neji stopped himself before he blurted out his cousin's secret. Well it wasn't really a secret anymore.

"That woman of yours insisted that Hinata gets with Sakura if no boys are going to claim her!" Naruto said as he pointed his finger at Shikamaru.

"That troublesome woman." Shikamaru said shaking his head.

"I'll claim her then!" The boys turned around to see Kakashi and Shizune walking towards them. Hikaru was behind them.

"Like hell you are." Sasuke growled.

"Sasuke is that any way to talk to your favorite teacher?" Kakashi asked as if he was hurt by Sasuke's cruel words.

"Did you pick up your parents?" Shino asked Hikaru who was surprisingly silent.

"Hm? Oh yeah. Well I need to speak to Sakura. Excuse me." Hikaru said as he bowed to the boys before entering the house.

"What the heck was that about?" Naruto asked.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

I heard someone knocking on my door as I opened it.

"Hikaru!" I said as he stood in the hallway. The girls greeted him as he waved back.

"Sakura, may I talk to you?" He asked me as I nodded. Hikaru lead me to his room as I noticed there were luggage on the floor.

"What's going on?" I asked as I sat on his bed. He looked down at me as he sighed.

"I'm moving." I said out of nowhere.

"W-What?" I said surprised.

"My parents actually went and bought a new house when they were gone. So we're moving in a few days. I actually came here to get my stuff and bid you farewell." Hikaru said as he sat on the bed next to me.

I frowned. "But we'll get to see each other at school though, right?"

I looked up to see him move his bangs away from his face. "I'm not just moving houses Sakura. I'll be transferring schools as well. I don't have a choice."

I felt sad. Even though I didn't know Hikaru that well, he was still my friend.

"I'll still be a phone call away. And I'll try to come and visit you as much as I can." He said as he cupped my cheek.

"I'll miss you…" I said quietly. He gave me a smile as I looked into his emerald eyes. I was a bit surprised to see them dilated. His face got closer to mine as I knew what he was going to do. Before he could kiss me, a box of pocky was thrown between us.

"Damn it Sai!" Ino yelled. I backed away from Hikaru as I looked to see Sai and the girls standing outside of Hikaru's room. Ino was poking Sai's chest. "Forehead girl was this close to getting a kiss!"

"I tripped and dropped my pocky." Sai said as he walked into the room and went to reach for the candy. I noticed Hikaru glaring at Sai. I had a feeling that Sai was glaring at him back.

"Do you need me to help you bring the stuff to your place?" I asked, trying to break the tension.

Hikaru nodded his head. "Thank you." He grinned at me. He carried a box and bag as I carried two boxes. I really was a strong girl. I saw Mrs. Kawasaki waving at me.

"Sakura, honey!" She greeted at me. I could see Mr. Kawasaki nodding his head at me. "Thank you so much for taking care of Hikaru here for me. I hope he wasn't a burden to you."

"Oh, not at all!" I said. "He was a big help in the house."

Mrs. Kawasaki smiled big as she pinched Hikaru's cheeks. "That's my boy. Did he tell you that we're moving?"

I nodded. "Where to?"

"Oto. He'll be going to Sound Academy for music." She informed me.

"I see." I said turning to Hikaru. "Good luck over there. Don't forget us!" Hikaru pulled me into a hug.

"I won't be leaving in two days. I'll call you up so we can hang out one last time before I leave for good." Hikaru said. "So see you soon."

He got in the car as his dad drove away. "Yeah." I said waving. "See you soon."

**XxXxXxXxX**

**Bonus Story: Storms**

Sakura sighed as she awkwardly relaxed on the chairs outside next to the beach. Minato had decided to take her to Boracay for their honeymoon. He was taking all this a bit too serious. Speaking of Minato, Sakura didn't even know where he was at. She soon felt a cold breeze hit her as it started to rain.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sakura said as she ran for cover. Her heart stopped as she heard the terrifying sound of thunder. She was afraid of thunderstorms. It would scare her to the point where she couldn't even move. With as much strength as she could, she found a cave and stayed there.

"Minato…" Sakura cried as she tried to cover her eyes and ears. "Where are you?"

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Minato had gone back to their room as he bought Sakura a present. He was surprised to see that Sakura wasn't back. It was getting late and there was a storm outside. He asked the workers and people staying if they spotted a girl with pink hair and green eyes.

"I saw someone that fit that description." An old lady said. "The last time I saw her was when it began to rain. I saw her relaxing over there." She pointed to the chairs next to the beach. Minato thanked the old woman as he ran outside in the rain.

"Sakura!" Minato called out. "SAKURA!" The thunder was overpowering him. He started to run around, not carrying that he was getting soaked in the process. He looked around to see a cave and a walk path in front of him. He went straight for the walk path.

It had been an hour as he went back to where he started. Just how hard was it to find a girl with pink hair? Minato began to get worried. Did she get hurt somewhere? What if someone kidnapped her? His Sakura was very adorable, who didn't want to kidnap her? Minato cleared his thoughts as he looked at the cave. Could she be…

Minato ran to the cave and was met with darkness. As the thunder and lightning hit again, he was able to see deep inside. Sakura was curled up into a ball.

"Sakura!" Minato called out. Sakura looked up with tears streaming down her face. "Sakura, it's alright!" Sakura quickly got up as she jumped into his arms crying. "I was so worried about you."

"I-I'm sorry." Sakura said.

Minato bent down and wiped her tears. "Who would have thought you were afraid of thunder?" He grinned.

Sakura glared at him as she kicked him. "Shut up!" Sakura said embarrassed.

"It's alright. Everyone is allowed to be afraid of something. It's nothing to be embarrassed of. We'll keep this a secret!" Minato said. "Come on, let's go back." Minato turned his back to her in a way of offering a piggyback ride. Sakura slowly got into his back as he lifted her up effortlessly back to the hotel.

"Minato-san…" Sakura began to say.

"Hm?" Minato asked. He didn't turn around to look at her.

"Thank you." Sakura said. Minato just smiled as the two enjoyed the silence.

**Urg, too much cuteness. Anyways, how was that? Hikaru is leaving! I don't know if he'll come back to the story. He was pretty much a side character for me to play with haha. The rivalry between Sasuke and Sai has now gotten bigger. Oh no! Next chapter will be Sakura's girls night out. It will be full of gossip and of course drama! Please wait until my next update.**


	22. Encounters With New And Old Friends

**HELLO EVERYBODY! This chapter will be mostly on Sakura, Karin, and Naruto. Be prepared for things to be revealed. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Review at the end please, it will make me very happy.**

**Sakura Kiss**

It was two in the morning and the girls had already gone to sleep. So many thoughts were running through my head. My mom and Minato knew each other. I always felt weird around Sai and Sasuke. It reminded me of how I felt when I was around Omoi. Then Hikaru is leaving for Oto. I was even going to let him kiss me before Sai interrupted. Did I have feelings for one of them? I sighed as I turned over. The girls were all in my bed, with me in the middle. I love these girls. They have been through a lot with me and they still never judged me. I wonder if I were to tell the boys about my past, would they still like me? With that thought, I went to bed only to wake up to the smell of breakfast being cooked and yelling in the kitchen. Too tired to change, I sleepily walked downstairs as I headed to see Naruto and Ino bickering over something.

"Sakura hates spicy food!" Ino yelled at Naruto.

"Nothing is wrong with ramen!" Naruto glared back.

"That's because you want to eat it! Don't you care about Sakura?"

"Of course I do, more than you!" Naruto stuck his tongue out as Ino let out a battle like cry. She lunged at Naruto choking him on the floor.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata said trying to help.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru said holding back Ino.

"No, let them go!" Sai said with a smirk. "Dickless is getting beat up by a girl. It's entertaining." Naruto replied by sticking out his middle finger at Sai. Sasuke and Shino were silently eating as Tenten and Temari were cooking. Neji hadn't appeared yet.

"You guys are so loud!" I whined as I rubbed my right eye and yawned.

Everyone stopped to look at me.

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru said as he quickly looked away. I watched as Sasuke and Sai spat out their drinks as their faces turned red. Shino was silent like always. Tenten raised an eyebrow as Temari smirked. Ino giggled as Hinata was turning red. Naruto was knocked out.

"What?" I asked.

"Girl, look at yourself!" Ino said. I looked at the mirror in the hallway to see myself wearing a black satin baby doll dress. I turned red with embarrassment. I soon let out a scream.

"Isn't that the sleepwear from Victoria's Secret that Ino got you a few years back?" Temari asked.

"I told you it would look sexy on you. I mean, look at Sai and Sasuke's expressions!" Ino grinned.

I slowly turned to see Sai and Sasuke knocked out with a major nosebleed.

I soon felt hands go around my waist and my back was met with a hard chest. Hinata turned even redder as Tenten was trying to hold in her squeal.

"Good morning…" Neji said tiredly as he placed a kiss a part of my neck before resting his forehead on my shoulder blade.

"NEJI!" Naruto roared. "GET YOUR PERVERTED HANDS OFF SAKURA-CHAN!"

Yup, a morning in the Namikaze household was never normal.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Ladies, you must have heard about the evil witch named Sakura Haruno!"

"Yes, Ami-sama!" A group of girls said.

"She had cast a spell on our beloved Student Council and it's our job as the SC protectors to protect them!"

"Yes Ami-sama!"

"Kasumi, you're up!" Ami ordered as she sat back down on her throne. They were all in the Iruka-sensei's class.

"Alright bitches, recite our daily duties as SC protectors!" Kasumi said. All the girls stood up quickly.

"We are the SC protectors! We will put our life on the line for our beloved Student Council. No girl is worthy of being with the Student Council besides us!" They said in sync. Karin nodded.

"Good job." Karin said as she went to the chalkboard and began writing. "Who can name me the rules?"

A girl quickly raised her hand.

"Yes, you?" Karin asked as she fixed her glasses.

"Rule number 1: Ami, Kasumi, and Karin are the only people allowed to have physical contact with the Student Council members and to talk to them alone. Rule number 2: If you are a first year, you must have two people of the club with you in order to be able to speak with the members. If you are a second year, you must have at least one person with you. If you are a third year, you must have permission from the leaders to speak to them alone. Rule number 3: Make sure we let the Student Council know of our affections each day. Rule number 4: Follow them home to make sure they made it home safely. Rule number 5: destroy all enemies."

Everyone clapped as the girl blushed.

"Good job!" Ami praised. "I might just let you become the next president when we graduate! Anyways, with that said, we must complete rule number 5. Karin!"

Karin looked up to see Ami smirking like crazy. "I have a mission for you."

"And what would that be Watanabe?" Karin said as she fixed her glasses.

"I want you to find Sakura Haruno's weakness and use it against her to crush her." Ami said.

"What about her crazy friends? That red head guy almost killed us! Then there's his sister and that tomboy!" Kasumi cried.

"It's alright, we'll have to get her alone and isolated. In a few days, the third years have to clean up around the school. We'll use this opportunity to strike. I'll make it that Karin and Sakura get teamed up and then you can use that time to be friendly with her and find out her weakness. She won't be all high and mighty anymore!" Ami began to crack up as all the girls began to laugh with her. Karin frowned. She didn't like that plan very much.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Alright class, as you know it is our turn to clean up the school." Kakashi said as he had his face buried in his porno book of his. "A student was kind enough to set the pairs for me. Sakura, will you be a dear and read the pairs out for me."

I sighed. "Lazy-ass." I mumbled.

"What was that Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked me in a sweet tone. I rolled my eyes and ignored him. "Ino and Ami."

"WHO MADE THIS FUCKING LIST?" Ino shouted. "I don't want to work with this bitch. I might accidentally drown her in the pool." Ami glared at Ino who glared back ten-folds.

"Settle down Yamanaka!" Kakashi said sternly.

"Sai and Kasumi." I said bitterly.

"YES!" Kasumi cried. "We were meant to be!" She latched herself on Sai who gave her a fake smile in return.

"Sasuke and Suigetsu." The two bumped fists with each other.

"Gaara and Chouji." Gaara pouted at me. It seems like he wanted to be with me.

"Kiba and Vince." I started saying names of people I weren't close to. I finally reached the last pair as my face paled.

"Me and…Karin." I looked to see her piercing red eyes look at me. I gulped. Oh Kami, please don't let there be drama between us after school. We all met up after school as we all split into groups already.

"Why couldn't I be grouped with Sasuke-kun?" Karin whined. I sighed.

"Too bad Karin." Suigetsu said as he stuck his tongue at her. "Bitches never win! Why can't you just get over the fact that Sasuke will never like you like that?"

"Shut up!" Karin said hotly as she punched Suigetsu in the stomach. "He does like me. He just trying to respect the others girls' feelings." Suigetsu laughed.

"Are you forreals Karin? God, that is the most stupidest reason I've ever heard."

"If you want, we can switch partners…" I said wanting to stop them from fighting. Forgive me Sasuke but this is for Karin's and Suigetsu's own good.

"Brilliant idea! I'd rather be with someone as hot and nice as you than Karin or Sasuke any day!" Suigetsu said wrapping an arm around my waist. I watched as Karin's eyes narrowed at the contact but said nothing.

"I'm with Haruno!" Karin said grabbing me away from Suigetsu. "Who knows what you'd do to her. She doesn't like you anyways."

"Jealous bitch." Suigetsu growled. "No guy wants to be with you because you're ugly and a bitch. I'd never want to go out with someone like you.

"Ugly jackass! This is why Sasuke-kun is way better than you! He's not an asshole like you!" Karin snapped back as she walked away and flicked him off.

"I hate you!" Suigetsu said with pure anger. I saw Karin's eyes widened but she continued to walk away.

"Good, because I feel the same way about you!" she replied.

"Urg, I hope you disappear! Get this through your head, you brat. No one wants you here!" I looked at Suigetsu in shocked. Karin acted like it didn't affect her as she turned the corner. I silently followed after her as I saw Sasuke come to meet up with Suigetsu. Before I turned the corner, I watched Suigetsu punch the wall in front of him as Sasuke sighed.

"Karin!" I called out for her.

"What?" She said annoyed.

"Are you crying?" I asked as I noticed her shoulders trembling.

"Shut up! I'm not crying. Just quietly do your job and I'll do mine." Karin said as she walked into Kakashi's class. The two of us began to clean the chalkboards and tables. I heard Karin mutter colorful words as she was harshly clapping the erasers together. I silently disinfected the tables. We were done after a few minutes as we went to the next assigned room, which was the bathroom. Again, it was done in silence. I was getting a bit annoyed. She could at least say something. We finally went to the last room, which was the Principal's office. We started to clean as I began to think enough was enough.

"Why do you hate me so much?" I asked breaking the silence.

I heard her snort as she continued with what she was doing. "Because I'm in love with Sasuke-kun and you're what's getting in the way!"

"You don't even know Sasuke-kun. He's my son; I have to be around him!" I argued back. Karin growled as she got up and poked me in the forehead.

"Get it straight. You're not his real mother. You're just using that as an excuse to be close to my Sasuke-kun!"

"That's not true! You don't know me! You don't know what I went through! And don't treat him like an object!" I said. "He's a human being and you and your friends are treating him like a prize. No wonder he doesn't like you."

It seemed like Karin had enough because she freaking lunged at me and began to strangle me. I kicked her in the stomach to get away. She grabbed my arm as we both fell towards a bookcase with a large amount of force. We heard a loud click. Before we knew it, the bookshelf began to move like a hidden door as we both fell into darkness. But not without a large scream, which I was sure it echoed throughout the school. I could feel ourselves on a slide as we slid endlessly.

We both finally stopped as I fell on Karin. She hissed in pain as I slowly got off her. The entrance where we fell from disappeared. I looked around to see that we were in a cell like room. There was a door on the other side of the room but there was no knob. I had a familiar feeling in my stomach. I began to hyperventilate. I felt very cold and nauseous. Memories were flashing into my mind from seven years ago.

'_**Just leave her here alone!'**_

'_**Her brother better pay the random if he wants his precious sister untouched.'**_

'_**Can we just mess around with her for a bit?'**_

Oh god. I fell to the ground as I rolled myself into a ball. I tried to cover my ears and shut my eyes.

"No…" I began to say. "No…help me!"

"Haruno!" I could barely hear Karin's voice anymore. I felt a hand on my shoulder as I quickly shrugged it off. "Let me go! Don't touch me…" I began to say. "I didn't do anything wrong. Don't hurt me. Stop! Please! Please!" I began to cry. Before I knew it, I felt arms wrapped around me. Karin had just pulled me into a hug.

"It's alright. I'm here!" Karin said. "No one is going to hurt you."

I opened my eyes to see the images of those guys disappear and only saw a worried Karin.

"K-Karin?" I said surprised.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Did everyone report back?" Kakashi asked. Everyone had met up in front of the school. Ami had left school early because she accidentally tripped into the pool as Ino reported.

"No Sensei!" A girl said. "Two girls are missing!"

"Who's missing?" He asked.

"Sakura Haruno and Karin Takeshima." She announced.

"Sakura-chan is missing?" Naruto cried out. "What if something happened to her? TEME! What if something happened to her?"

"That idiot." Sasuke and Suigetsu said. "Always getting into trouble!"

"If anything happens to Sakura-chan, I'll be so sad!" Naruto said. The girls looked at Naruto with sympathy.

The Naruto fan girls immediately took charge. "We'll help look for Sakura and Karin!" They said as they left.

"Us too!" A group of boys said as they also left. One by one the class emptied out. Kakashi smiled. He wondered if the girls ended up finding the secret room.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Karin and I were resting against the cold slate wall. The only light that illuminated the room was the one on the ceiling. It soon started to flicker before burning out completely. The room became pitch black, which made my fears worse.

"Damn it, just our luck!" Karin growled.

I whimpered as I hugged myself into a ball. This was so embarrassing. I hoped Karin wouldn't use this against me.

"Are you still crying?" Karin snapped at me. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark!"

I shook my head. It was pointless since Karin couldn't see my head movements. I took a deep breath and let her in on a part of my past.

"When I was eleven, I was kidnapped from my house." I said. I didn't know what Karin's reaction was to that. She was silent.

"They didn't do anything to you, right?" Karin asked after a few minutes. I closed my eyes as I told her the story.

**Flashback**

"_I wonder if Sasori-niisan will be home today." Sakura wondered as she was alone at the Haruno mansion. Her brother barely came home anymore. He abandoned her. She always cried herself to sleep. She soon heard the sound of a window breaking. Everything was so fast. A bunch of men came into her room and dragged her to a van parked not too far away. She saw a man on the other side of the street looking at her in shock._

"_Sakura?" The man said. He knew her? The stranger came and went to fight off the guys but lost. They had taken her inside the van and drove off._

_Sakura's eyes widened with fear as she saw the men look at her weirdly._

"_What a pretty little girl you are." One of them said as he began to touch her cheek. Sakura glared at him as she bite down on his hand HARD._

_The man screamed in pain as he smacked Sakura across the face. "Little bitch!"_

_Another person came behind her and covered her nose and mouth with a cloth. Sakura felt her eye lid get heavy as she fell unconscious. _

_When Sakura woke up, she found herself being placed in a cellar. It was small and dark._

"_It seems like the princess woke up." Sakura tried to crawl away but the guy's strength was really strong. Sakura looked at herself in the mirror in the room. She had bruises all over her arms and she had a black eye._

"_Let go!" Sakura screamed. "Don't touch me! I didn't do anything wrong! Don't hurt me! Stop! Please! Please!" _

"_Tch, just leave her here alone." One of the guys said. "Her screams are so annoying." _

"_Her brother better pay the random if he wants his precious sister untouched." Another said._

"_Can we just mess around with her for a bit?" The guy holding her asked._

"_You do realize that her brother is in Akatsuki. Just ask for the ransom, the whole Haruno inheritance." The first guy said._

"_You left the note with that one guy we beat up, right?" The one holding her said._

"_Yeah, the princess here is on the news right now as we speak." _

"_Might as well have fun while we wait." The second guy said. He was slid his hands up Sakura's dress and was about to pull down on her underwear._

"_Stop!" Sakura cried. "SASORI-NIICHAN! HELP ME!" A large explosion was heard as the cell door burst opened._

"_SAKURA!" the voice of Sasori reached her ears. _

"_Sasori-niichan…you came." Sakura said weakly. Sasori had come with the man with long white hair. She saw him before the strangers had taken her. A man with long black hair and yellow eyes was on his other side._

_Sasori looked at his sister's condition as anger filled him up. The two adults had known Sasori to be a patient and calm person. This person in front of them was a whole new person. _

"_You bastards!" Sasori growled._

"_Do you have the money?" One of the guys bravely said. Sasori looked over to the raven haired one as he tossed the bag of money to the guys. In return, the man holding Sakura kicked her to her brother as she screamed in pain._

"_Sakura…" Sasori said in a shaky voice. His sister was hurt because of him. He brought her close to his chest. "I won't let you get hurt anymore. I have to separate myself from you. Jiraiya-sensei, can you take Sakura to the hospital."_

"_Alright." Jiraiya said. That was the last memory Sakura had before she blacked out._

**End of flashback**

"Were they ever found?" Karin asked as she tried to take all this information in.

"No…" I said slowly. "S-Since then, I hate being in a closed room in the dark like this."

Karin sighed as she tried to find my hand. She did as she gave it a squeeze.

"You don't have to worry anymore. So stop crying. Sasuke-kun won't let you get hurt anymore; none of the Namikaze brothers will. They truly love you. T-to be honest, I think I was jealous of you." Karin said. I looked up at where I thought Karin would be. She was jealous of me? "Don't get a big head. I tried for years to get Sasuke-kun's attention. You got it in a few months. He really cares about you. Anyone can see that. He treats you differently from the other girls. He treats you with such kindness. I wanted that. I wanted someone to look at me the way Sasuke-kun does to you. You're someone special to him." I hear her cry. "I wish I was like you."

I rested my head on Karin's shoulder. I was getting tired. "I wish I was like you as well Karin."

If Karin was surprised by my words, she didn't show it. "You're so strong and confident. You're really pretty too."

"Then why can't Sasuke-kun fall for me?" She cried. She let go of my hand as she sobbed.

"Maybe Sasuke-kun isn't for you. Maybe there's someone else who really cares about you, the person that looks at you with love and care." I said cheerfully.

"Like who?" She asked gently.

"How do you feel about Suigetsu?" I asked her. "To tell you the truth, he likes you and I think you like him back, even if you don't realize it yet."

"Suigetsu?" Karin repeated. "He probably doesn't even care that we're missing. He hates me remember!"

The conversation died down for a couple of minutes. Soon Karin broke the silence. "Hey Sakura,"

"Hm?" I asked sleepily.

"I'm sorry." Karin said as she rested her head on top of mine.

"What?" I asked confused.

"I don't like repeating myself. I said I was sorry okay. For being mean to you, that is." Karin said.

"Same goes to you." I said happily. "Does this mean we're friends?"

"Don't push it." Karin said. She didn't say it in a mean way. It was more of a joking on. Soon light emitted in the room.

"Sakura!" A voice said. Karin and I looked up to see Sasuke out of breath.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" I said surprised.

"Thank god." He said as he fell on his knees to catch his breath.

"Is Karin there?" Karin looked up as we heard Suigetsu's worried voice.

"Ah." Sasuke said as he pushed the door even further. He helped me get up as Suigetsu went to help Karin.

"Are you alright?" Suigetsu asked.

"Of course I'm alright. It's Haruno I was worried about." Karin said. I smiled as I saw her blush. I frowned realizing she went back to last names.

"Sheesh, worrying me like that." Suigetsu frowned at her.

"How'd you find us?" I asked as Sasuke had carried me on his back. I was sleepy.

"The Principal's office was a mess and then Shizune told us about the secret room." Sasuke said.

"Thank you." I said I rested my head on him. I was thinking back on what Karin said.

"For what?" He asked.

"For caring…" I said as I closed my eyes.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

The following Monday, I expected Ami and the girls to use my weakness against me. Nothing happened until lunch time. I was surprised to see Karin dumping milk on Ami's head as she walked away with Suigetsu laughing and the tall guy, I remembered as Juugo, from the Halloween party. Karin had walked near me.

"Sakura." She said to me.

"Karin." I smiled.

Ino and the others were surprised that Karin and I were talking in such friendly terms. I took a deep breath and scooted over. "Would you like to have lunch with us?"

"EH?" The whole table said in shocked.

A few minutes passed by as I saw her lips turn up a bit. "Are you that desperate to be around me Haruno?"

I laughed. "Sure." She sat down between me and Naruto.

"This still doesn't mean we're friends." Karin said hotly as Suigetsu and Juugo sat with Sasuke. My eyes watched as Karin looked over at Suigetsu who looked back at her. He smiled and winked at her as she gave him the gentlest smile I'd seen from her. Karin wasn't bad at all. She was just a girl who needed to be shown that people did care about her.

"You aren't planning to use Sakura's friendship, are you?" Hinata asked in a sharp tone. She was glaring at Karin. Everyone had grown silent. To be honest, I was expecting Ino to question her. I looked at Karin to see her smiling at me.

"I left Ami and Kasumi for Sakura. You have nothing to worry about." Karin said looking at Hinata.

Hinata lessened her glare as she sat down. "G-Good, because I wouldn't want to kick your ass the moment you hurt her."

"I would be surprised if you didn't." Karin said. I could see that Karin and Hinata came to a silent agreement.

"So you better be coming to my sleepover next this Friday." Ino said looking at Karin. "I will recognize you as a member of our group."

"Ah." Karin said fixing her glasses. I smiled. I just made a new friend. I got up to put my trash away as someone bumped into my shoulder. I looked up to see Ami glaring at me.

"I don't know what you did to Karin, but you better watch out. I will get you, with or without that bitch's help." Ami said as she stuck her nose up in the air and was about to walk away.

I growled as I grabbed her by the collar of her uniform and stuffed her face with my food. "Karin isn't a bitch. She's a wonderful person. She deserves better friends than you who use people."

"Who? Someone like you?" Ami asked.

"Yes." I said. "I'll be a better friend to Karin than you. So you better watch out." I said. I walked away from her as everyone started at me and Ami. She screamed as she walked out of the cafeteria. Karin grabbed onto my hand.

"You didn't have to do that. You're annoying." Karin said as she went to put her tray away.

"She's so rude!" Naruto said. "You were just helping her!"

I smiled as I shook my head. Karin was a proud girl. That was her way of saying thank you.

The bell to class rang. People left to head to class as Naruto and I were the last people to leave the cafeteria. I watched as something pink fell out of his bag.

"Naruto, you dropped something!" I called out. He didn't hear me as he exited the cafeteria.

"That boy." I said as I went to pick it up. I was shocked to see a pack of Sakura cigarettes. Half had been used. "No, Naruto."

"S-Sakura-chan?" I turned to see Hinata still in the cafeteria. Her eyes widened at the pack in my hand. "Sakura-chan! I thought you said you'd stop!" She said. I could tell she was hurt.

"I-It's not mine. I swear. It…It fell out of Naruto's backpack." I said sadly. Hinata gasped as she covered her mouth.

"He promised me. He promised me he'd stop as well." Hinata began to cry.

"Hinata, I'm confused. Naruto used to smoke?" Hinata nodded. I frowned. I grabbed her hand.

"Where are we going?" Hinata asked me.

"Come on, we're going to ditch." I smiled. Hinata's eyes widened. We ended up passing by the old elementary school. I wasn't able to complete my education there. The two of us made it to a park nearby as we sat on the swings.

"Hey Hinata? How did you meet Naruto anyways?" I asked her. She looked at me with a gentle smile.

"It was actually right here in this very park." Hinata said. "You see, I've heard of him from Neji when they used to hang out when they were younger. When we were in the sixth grade, I had accidentally bumped into a boy who got very angry. He and his friends wanted me to bow down and apologize. They hated rich people like me and was about to hit me when I didn't do it correctly."

"Then Naruto came to your rescue?" I finished for her. She nodded.

"He fought the boys for me. The boys were beaten up to the point they had been in a coma. I remember that day like it was yesterday."

**Flashback**

_Hinata knew she was going to be late for supper. She just wanted to check out the violin at the music store on the way home. The fastest way to her home was through the park next to the elementary school. _

"_I have to hurry before father gets angry with me!" She said. Before she knew it, she had bumped into some one._

_Hinata looked down to see a half eaten ice cream on the floor. She looked back up to see three boys looking at her in shocked. They seemed to be around Neji's age._

_The three had bullied her towards the trees. _

"_I-I'm sorry." Hinata cried._

"_Hey…She's the Hyuga kid!" One of the boys said._

"_Yeah, she's got those eyes. She must be that Neji's cousin. She's probably cocky too." Another said._

"_She thinks she's better than us 'cause of her family and talent!" The one she bumped into said._

"_I-I'm not like that at all!" Hinata said not looking at them in the eye. She soon tried to make a run for it as one of them grabbed her harshly by the arm._

"_Trying to run off without saying you're really sorry?"_

"_What a jerk!"_

"_Don't let her get away with that!"_

_One of them pushed her to her knees. "Say you're sorry!"_

"_I'm sorry!" Hinata began to cry. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"_

"_Not good enough. Let's give her a good kick in the face to teach her a lesson." One of the boys said._

"_Cut it out!" This caught the boys' attention._

"_What do you want?" The boy that pushed Hinata asked. One of them noticed the Sakura cigarette in his mouth._

"_Hey, it's that guy." The fat one said. _

"_The name is Naruto Uzumaki."_

"_This doesn't concern you."_

_Hinata looked up to see her savior. He had spiky hair and the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. He had looked like he gotten into a previous fight due to the bruises and blood on him. She noticed three scars on his cheeks. He tilted his head to the right._

"_Doesn't concern me you say?"_

"_Are you looking for a fight?" The skinny one asked. His friend elbowed him.  
_

"_Don't be stupid. He's belongs to the 9-tails. He's the strongest in the group. My older brother is in a gang and afraid of him. He's known as Kyuubi." Naruto smirked at this. _

"_I-I'm not afraid of a punk younger than me." The cocky on said._

"_Give me your best shot!" Naruto grinned as he pulled out a bat. Hinata covered her eyes and ears as she tried to block out the boys' screams._

"_Hey you okay?" Naruto asked. Hinata looked up to see that he was clutching on to his left arm._

"_Y-You're bleeding." Hinata said._

"_It's nothing to worry about." Naruto said as he got up and disappeared._

_The next day, Hinata was walking home again and walked through the park in hopes of seeing Naruto again. She was shocked to see him getting beaten up by older men. How cruel. Naruto punched the guy and made a run for it. Acting quickly, Hinata grabbed Naruto by the hand and led him to safety. The two made it to her household._

"_Why did you do that?" Naruto asked angrily. "Are you trying to make me owe you or somethi-?"He stopped in his sentence as he saw Hinata hyperventilating._

"_P-P-P-Please come inside." Hinata said shakily as she was trying to lock the door. Naruto sweat dropped. He was inside._

"_Oi, are you okay?" Hinata and Naruto fell to the floor to catch their breaths. Before they knew it, they laughed awkwardly. Hinata quickly got up and left her room only to come back with a first aid kit._

"_S-Stay still as I-I treat your wounds." Hinata said._

"_You aren't afraid of me?" Naruto asked. Hinata was treating the bruise on his face.  
_

"_Why would I be?" Hinata asked with a light blush on her face._

"_You're really weird." Naruto said as he went and took out a stick._

"_You smoke?" Hinata frowned._

"_Are you against it or something?" Naruto asked putting it away._

"_My mother died because of it." Hinata whispered as tears began to form in her eyes._

"_Hey, don't cry!" Naruto exclaimed. "Look, I'm not smoking!" He threw the pack to a corner of her room. _

"_I-I'm sorry." Hinata said wiping her tears away. "Why do you smoke anyways, aren't you in 6__th__ grade? Y-You're way too young!"_

"_It helps release the stress I've been going through." Naruto said with a sad smile._

"_Having a friend would help." Hinata smiled._

"_No one wants to be friends with a monster like me. I'm dangerous. Everyone hates me. No one cares about me. My guardian doesn't accept me either." Naruto glared at the ground. "I had friends but we grew apart."_

"_S-So you d-do this to get a-attention?" Naruto nodded._

"_I'll be your friend…" Hinata said with a deeper blush._

"_Will you really?" Naruto asked with widened eyes. He became all cheerier. _

"_Y-Yes!" Hinata nodded. Before she knew it, Naruto pulled her into a hug._

"_Thank you Hinata-chan! I'll stop smoking just for you, I promise!" He grinned. Hinata smiled back as she felt tears of joy._

"_Alright."_

**End of flashback**

"L-Later that following year, he left the group but got beaten up for it. He said it was Minato who rescued him and then took him in." Hinata said.

I was surprised. I heard Naruto was a troublemaker back in the days, but to be a part of a dangerous gang like the 9-tails was hard to believe. I heard of them from Gaara who was a part of them in the past. I wonder if that's how Gaara and Naruto knew each other. The 9-tails was one of the main five dangerous groups there was in Japan. Gaara told me that the 9-tails was very powerful until there was a power struggle and they all broke apart. Since they broke up, there were only four groups standing now: The Ladies, Lollipops, The Red Scarves, and the Oto Yakuza. A few of the members from the 9-tails became members of the gang and some rose in power. Others left the gang life to try and live a normal life.

"D-Don't tell Naruto I told you. He isn't happy about his past." Hinata trembled. I nodded.

"So Naruto too, huh?" I frowned. "We're going to need to have mother to son talk soon."

I walked Hinata home as school already ended. It was no use going back so I began to walk home. As I passed by an alley, I saw a group of people with Red Scarves. Just my luck! I was about to walk away until I heard someone talk.

"Not so tough anymore huh Uzumaki?" One of them said.

"I told you guys I left the gang life a long time ago!" Naruto said as he punched a guy in the face. Naruto looked beaten up. I grew angry as I saw this.

"We never got our revenge on you. Now that the 9-tails split up, you have no one to protect you." The person that spoke was about to take out a bat. Thinking fast, I grabbed a garbage lid and threw it directly at his head. Everyone could hear the sickening sound as the man fell to the ground. I threw it hard enough to do some damage to his spinal cord.

"Who did that?" A girl asked. I recognized her immediately. I stepped out of the shadows as their eyes widened with realization.

"Fuu!" I said with a superior voice. She moved her light green bangs away from her red eyes as her mouth dropped.

"S-Sakura-sama!" She said as she quickly bowed. I walked slowly up to her as she cowered in fear. I ignored her as I lifted Naruto onto my back. I glared at each of them.

"I-I didn't know you returned!" Ni'i Yugito said. I remembered her as the former leader of The Ladies.

"I didn't. It seems like the two of the former 9-tails are working together." I said with an icy tone.

"The Ladies had joined forces with the Red Scarves. You-"I glared at her.

"Naruto Uzumaki is with me. Mess with him and any of my friends and you'll deal with me. Tell that to the rest of your gangs, especially the Oto Yakuza." I growled.

"The Oto Yakuza aren't in good terms with the rest of us." A familiar voice said. I looked to see Omoi sucking on a lollipop as he was leaning against the wall.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I could ask you the same question, Cherry." He smirked.

"You have no right to call me that anymore." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"But I do. I'm the one who gave you that nickname." He said as he got closer. I stepped away. He sighed. "Look, I'm not here to cause any trouble. The world of gangs changed since Gaara left. Whatever he told you is different now. Kabuto, the leader of the Oto Yakuza, is gaining in power. I heard there are actually two bosses now. The second leader is a mystery."

"Are the Lollipops joining forces with the rest of the gangs to over throw the Yakuza?" I asked.

"Smart as always. I always loved that about you." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Then why did you guys beat up Naruto?" I was growing angry. "He's a former 9-tails member but he left that life!"

"He's connected to the new leader of the Yakuza." Omoi said. "He's a threat."

"And I'm a bigger threat." I said. "We're done talking."

"So you're not coming back?" Fuu asked with a frowned.

"You guys are doing better without me." I said as I began to walk away with an unconscious Naruto on my back.

"It's not the same without you!" Yugito said as she stepped up. "The Ladies isn't the same without its second in command."

"Nor is the Red Scarves without its original leader!" Fuu said also standing up. "The moment you left, we lost two of our best members."

"And I lost my number one guy." Omoi added.

"Goodbye." I said ignoring their words. "I hope this is the last time I'll see you guys."

"But Sakura-sama…" Fuu called out.

I continued to walk out of the alley and back to the streets. I didn't care that people in the streets were giving me weird looks. I began to cry.

"Damn it." I bit my lower lip. I adjusted Naruto on my back as I continued to walk. I felt Naruto shift.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto began to say.

"Hm?"

"You were the Deadly Cherry Blossom, weren't you?" Naruto asked. Naruto didn't need to hear me speak. He knew he was right the moment I stopped walking.

"You were the rumored Deadly Cherry Blossom. You were the best member in The Ladies and the former leader of Red Scarves. You were the best fighter of The Ladies at the age of 11. Then you left and created a new gang called Red Scarves at the age of 13. You were the best of the best." Naruto said. I was surprised by how much he knew.

"How do you know all that Naruto?" I asked him as I began to walk again. It was beginning to get dark. I had to take Naruto home quickly to treat his wounds.

"How could I not know anything about the person that rescued me when I left the 9-tails that night?" Naruto asked.

**DUN DUN DUN DUN! *DRAMATIC MUSIC* OMG! I know, so much to take in. More of Sakura's past has been revealed. I added some SasuSaku moments for you fans out there. Naruto and Sakura's past are connect and how is Naruto connected to the new leader in Oto Yakuza? I love adding new characters to the story. With how the manga has been going, I started to like Karin again, so I made her good in the story. Next chapter will be Sakura's first mother talk with Naruto and her final time with Hikaru before he leaves. Please review everyone.**

**-Kumiko**


	23. Dates and Kisses

Here we go. Another chapter of Sakura Kiss. Just finished my midterms. So bad. Urg. Well, let's continue with this story before i go on a rant about grades haha.

**Sakura Kiss**

We finally made it to the house as the boys seemed to be out. Taking Naruto to my room, I got the first aid kit and began to treat his wounds.

"Sorry about this mom." Naruto grinned. I rolled my eyes as I cleaned his wounds.

"What were you doing with them in an alley?" I asked.

"The boys were busy with Council stuff back at school. There wasn't really anything for me to do, so I was heading out to get ramen. Then Fuu freakin' came out of nowhere and attacked me. And I fucking saved her ass countless of times back in the day." Naruto frowned. He winced when i was cleaning the cut on his cheek.

"How did you get involved with 9-tails?"

Naruto sighed. "It's a long story."

"I have time." I answered. I was really curious.

"If you say so. It all started when Iruka-sensei adopted me from the orphanage…" Naruto said. "You see. I was told my mom died giving birth to me and my dad didn't know I existed. Iruka came and adopted me. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful and all, but he didn't really treat me as friendly as he does now. He was indifferent with my actions. If I did something bad, he wouldn't yell at me or anything. It was like he didn't notice me. Soon I met Utakata. You probably heard of him as Rokubi (6-tails)."

I nodded. He was a cutie. We fought once before and I kicked his ass.

"He introduced me to 9-tails and I became the Kyuubi or the 9(tails). The leader of the group was Rikudou Sennin. I've never seen him in person before but I still did deeds for him. I met Gaara through this group. We didn't like each other. We would get into fights a lot. It got so bad that Sasuke was brought into this feud of ours. Soon I met this girl…"

"Hinata, right?" I asked. He blushed but nodded.

"How did you know?" Naruto asked.

"I had a feeling. Continue on." I signaled.

"Well, yeah I met Hinata and she was getting bullied by a bunch of boys Neji's age. I beat them up. The next day, their brothers came and beat me up for beating their little brothers up. Hinata saw me and just took me to safety." Naruto let out a laugh. "She was so cute worried and stuff. She was hyperventilating and everything. I guess you can say I fell in love with her right after. I wanted to be with Hinata but I realized that if I'm still in this gang, I could cause her harm. So I asked to leave the group. Of course, they beat me up. Gaara ran away to do something. I was losing my vision from the constant beatings…"

"Don't give up…" I whispered. Naruto's eyes widened at me.

"What did you say?" Naruto asked me.

"This seemed so familiar. Gaara had called his sister to say that a member of the 9-tails was going to quit the group. I just happened to be nearby when Temari called me. I ran over there and remembered seeing a boy on the ground. I kicked this one dude in the face and got into a huge fight with him. The other members backed away because they have heard of me. I told the boy "Don't give up." It takes a lot to leave the group. Trust me, I know." I said. "I looked at your ID and saw that you know Iruka-sensei, so I called him up and took you to the hospital. Iruka said he'd call someone that knew you."

"Minato…" Naruto smiled. "He was at the hospital when I woke up after that. He asked if he could take me in. You were the one who saved me that night." He gave me a hug. "Thank you."

I just smiled back as I returned the hug.

"So you were the Deadly Cherry Blossom." Naruto said after a while. "Fuu and Yugito looked up to you."

I laughed. "The moment 9-tails disbanded, Yugito became leader of The Ladies, which I was second in command in. Fuu joined afterwards. Later, I left the group to create The Red Scarves. It was a coed group. Temari and Tenten joined my group followed by random people."

"Temari and Tenten were in a gang?" Naruto's mouth dropped.

"Yup. They were my wing-ladies. Yugito was okay with me leaving the gang because she liked me. Gaara joined my ex's group called The Lollipops."

"The lollipops were full of people from Cloud High." Naruto said.

"Yeah." I said bitterly. "The leader of the Lollipops didn't like me and tried to ruin me by having a few of his members join The Red Scarves. Soon the leader of that gang, Yugito, and I had a meeting and said that we can all form our gangs together. It would be one large group, yet have three different segments: The Ladies, The Red Scarves, and The Lollipops. It seemed like a good idea but shit happened and I asked to leave the gang life. I got my punishment."

"What happened?" Naruto asked.

"I-"

I was cut off when I heard screaming down below.

"I'm not going!" It was Neji's voice.

I ran down stairs to see what was going on. There was another person in front of Neji, who seemed to be a relative.

"But Uncle would like you to-"

"If you don't remember, I left the clan." Neji said. "Now get out of this house!" I heard the door slam as Neji let out a frustrated sigh.

"Neji?" I called out worried as I touched his shoulder.

"What?" He snapped. I winced at the tone of his voice. His eyes softened as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. I'm just really stressed."

"What happened?" I asked.

"My uncle wants me to come back to the clan." He said. I remembered Hinata telling me Neji ran away for some reason.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave the clan?" I asked.

Neji frowned as he sat down on the couch. "My uncle killed my dad."

My mouth dropped with this new information.

"Did you eat yet?" Neji asked me, quickly changing the subject.. I shook my head. He sighed as he took my hand and led me to the garage. "I'll treat you out." We asked Naruto if he wanted to come but he declined. Neji and I went to the garage as I was surprised to see him pull out a motorcycle. He put on a gray helmet as he handed me a red one. I sat behind him as I placed my arms around his waist. "Hold on tight." He said as we left the house.

After a couple of minutes, we arrived at a restaurant. Neji, of course, had to choose one of the most expensive restaurants in the town. Needless to say, I felt really under-dressed for this. Neji fit in well with the surroundings. He was from the top rich families. The person that greeted us at the door immediately got us a table while everyone bowed. I turned red. How embarrassing. Neji ordered the food for us as it soon got quiet. I noticed that all the girls in the café stared at us, well more like Neji. He didn't seem to notice as he was glaring at the poor innocent glass of water. What the heck did it do to you?

"Do you still want to talk about it?" I asked after a while. He was silent for a few minutes. I was going to change the subject, but he spoke.

"My dad and Hinata's dad were twin brothers." He started to say.

I nodded. "I remember meeting him when I went to Hinata's birthday party once. He was a nice man. That was the first and last time I saw you until now." I told him. He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on that.

"Well, as Hinata and I got older, we were put under a lot of pressure. One of us had to be the next heir. I was most likely to get it because I was older and male. So it all depended on our fathers. The elders had to decide. One night, I was heading home from school when I passed by my uncle's room. My father was in there. He was wounded in the stomach. A large sword had been pierced through him. My uncle's hands were covered in blood. I remember my dad calling out for me. My uncle's eyes were widened with fear. He was caught red handed, literally. He had killed my father to get position of the head clan member and for Hinata or Hanabi to become the next heir after him. I ran away after that. I met up with Minato, who was a friend of my dad's from high school. He said he'd take me in and here I am now." Neji said. "My uncle now has the nerve to ask me to come back like he didn't kill his own brother."

I frowned as I held his hands with mine. He looked like he was going to cry.

"It's okay to cry you know…" I said as I rubbed my thumb over his hand. He glared at me.

"I don't cry." Neji frowned. I just smiled.

"Everyone cries. It's nothing to be ashamed about." I said as I let go of his hands. "Even if you do cry like a big baby, I'll still think you're cool." Neji's cheeks were dusted with pink as he looked away.

After a while, our food came as we ate quietly. Family, I soon thought about Thanksgiving. That was my next mother goal. Shizune had sent me a scroll recently with my next mother goal. It was to have everyone on the list she gave me to come over for Thanksgiving. The list consisted of the boys, Ino and the gang, and Akatsuki. How was I going to do that?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The next day I had received a text message from Hikaru. He had two days left and wanted to take me out for dinner. I invited Ino over who came to help me get ready.

"So you're going to pursue Hikaru?" Ino asked me as she raised an eyebrow.

"What? No! We're just friends. He's leaving tomorrow so he wants to hang out before he leaves." I said waving my hands in front of me. Ino had bought me a little emerald dress. It reached an inch above my knees with a V front. The dress had a cute lace pattern on the back. Ino also bought me silver heels to match. My pink hair was loosely curled with a silver clip holding back my bangs. My make-up was light. When Ino was done with everything, she took a step back and whistled.

"Damn forehead, I'd actually go lesbo for you." Ino grinned. I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks porky!" I smiled back as I looked at myself in the mirror. Ino was right, I did look good.

"Do your sons know you're going out, especially with Hikaru?" Ino asked as she walked me to my door. She was going to spend time with Shikamaru later. I shook my head.

"Let's keep it that way." I said.

"Sure sure." Ino said nodding her head. "I promise, I won't tell your sons."

Satisfied with her answer, I walked out of the house just in time to see Hikaru driving up the road.

Ino smirked as she closed the door. "But that doesn't mean the girls can't tell one of the sons."

**XxXxXxXxX**

Hikaru had taken us to a really nice restaurant. He looked pretty good too. As we walked around downtown, everyone stopped to look at us. I blushed at the unwanted attention. I hurriedly entered the restaurant as Hikaru happily followed suit. We were taken to a table and left to decide what we wanted to eat.

I noticed Hikaru was staring at me intensely. "What?" I asked.

He shook his head and grinned. "You look beautiful."

I blushed as I quickly hid my face with the menu. No one had ever told me that since I broke up with Omoi. I was called hot, sexy, or cute. But they were nothing compared to the word beautiful. Beautiful were words used for girls like Ino and the others. But not someone as tainted as me. And recently, I've been getting called hag or ugly by that freakin Sai. Why the hell did people think I like an asshole like him? No, don't think about Sai at a moment like this. Sakura, you are on a date with a cutie like Hikaru. Don't mess this up.

"Have you decided what you'd like to order?" The waitress asked as she blushed at the sight of Hikaru and glared at me. Bitch.

"My girlfriend and I would like to get the Chicken Alfredo. I would like it if you stopped glaring at my girl like that." Hikaru said as he narrowed his eyes at the girl. The waitress turned red with embarrassment as she bowed to me.

"F-Forgive me." She said as she ran away with our orders.

"Your girl?" I raised an eyebrow.

He chuckled sheepishly. "Too much?" I watched as Hikaru went to grab my hand but we were soon interrupted.

"May I take your order?" A waiter asked.

"Oh, we already order-"My eyes widened as I looked at him. W-Was that Shino? The hair was slicked back but the glasses were similar to Shino's.

"Shino?" I growled angrily. Ino told!

"I'm sorry; I think you must have mistaken me for someone else." He said politely. Maybe he wasn't Shino.

"I-I'm sorry." I said embarrassed.

The waiter smiled at me. "It's quite alright. Enjoy the evening."

The food was brought to us by this girl with big boobs and blond hair up into two high side tails. With her tan skin, she looked like a female version of Naruto. I was beginning to think I was so son-deprived, I was imagining them here.

"Hi, my name is Naruko. Oh, my what a sexy guy we have more here." She said looking at Hikaru. I noticed her voice sounded forced. It sounded like a guy trying to sound like a girl. As she was flirting with Hikaru, I noticed tissues were falling out of her shirt. It clicked. My sons were actually here to ruin my date!

"Excuse me!" I growled. "Naruko, was it?"

"Y-Yes?" She asked.

I said nothing as I pulled my phone out and called Naruto's cell. As suspected, her phone rang. I smirked.

"See you later at home Naruto." I said as Hikaru signaled another waiter to get our food to go. We walked out of the restaurant as we walked downtown.

"The nerve of those boys!" I said. Hikaru tilted his head back and laughed.

"They must really care about you if they pulled a stunt like that." He smiled. I let out a small smile through my anger. That was true.

The two of us made it to a nice park near my house as we began to eat our food at the picnic table. We sat on top of it as we talked about the school he was going to and how he felt about it. It soon got quiet between us.

"So, do you like anyone?" He suddenly asked.

"No." I said quickly. I moved a few strands of my hair back.

"No one at all?" He asked. I shook my head.

"You know I have feelings for you, right? I want you to be mine." I didn't say anything. Honestly, I didn't know what to say. After a while, i spoke.

"I-I can't." I said.

"Is it because you have feelings for someone else? One of your sons?" My eyes widened.

"O-Of course not!" I stuttered as I looked away from him.

"Then be mine…" He said. He felt him touch my hair. "Does this make you uncomfortable?" He asked.

"No." I whispered.

He smirked. "Good." Was it bad to want attention like this from a guy? I wanted to be loved. I wanted to be someone's special person. I watched as Hikaru slowly lowered his head in an attempt to kiss me. I closed my eyes. I felt kind of scared now. I didn't want Hikaru to kiss me. For some odd reason, I wanted someone else. I wanted-

"Ugly!" I opened my eyes as I heard Hikaru make a "tch" noise. I looked to see Sai breathing heavily. Did he run all the way here looking for me? For some reason, that made me feel warm. I noticed he was narrowing his eyes at Hikaru.

"S-Sai?" I called out. Sai grabbed me by the arm and away from Hikaru. "What the heck do you think you're doing?" I said noticing how harsh he pulled me away from Hikaru. He didn't look angry though. Instead, he had that fake smile of his.

"Ino got hurt and we don't know what to do. So I was sent to look for you." He said calmly as he lifted me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I blushed at the thought that people could see my underwear with my dress so short and all. I blushed even more when I felt Sai place his left hand on my upper tights in an attempt to cover what I did want him and Hikaru to see. His right hand was placed on my waist. I frowned a bit. Sai didn't come here by choice. Psh, it's not like I wanted him to.

"Sorry." He said to Hikaru. I could sense his fake smile in his tone. "I have to take her home now."

"No, it's okay. I hope Yamanaka is okay." Hikaru said. "My train departures tomorrow at five in the afternoon after school. I'll be waiting for your reply."

I was about to say something but Sai quickly walked out of the park.

"Put me down Sai!" I demanded. "I can walk."

Sai ignored me as he continued to carry me over his shoulder. Knowing there was nothing else to do, I let Sai carry me back. I used my arms to help me from staring at his ass the whole time home.

"You suck!" I growled as Sai just chuckled. We finally made it home as I ran into to the house to check on Ino, leaving Sai at the front door.

"Where are you hurt?" I asked her as I spotted her and Shikamaru watching a movie in the living room.

"What are you talking about?" Ino asked me, a bit annoyed that I was interrupting their ShikaIno time.

"Sai interrupted my date because he said you got hurt. And why did you tell Naruto and them about my date?"

"I was never hurt." Ino said with a grin. "And I told Tenten who told Neji who told Naruto, who announced it to the whole family. He dragged Shino to make sure Hikaru didn't pull any nasty moves on you. So technically, I never broke our promise. You should have seen their reactions, freaking priceless!"

I frowned as I turned around expecting Sai to be there. That little URG! HOW DARE HE LIE TO ME!

"You know, Sai was the first one to leave the house when he found out. He ran out before I could tell him where you and Hikaru went." Ino whispered to me as she winked. I rolled my eyes.

"Please, I don't like Sai like that. He's my son! It's wrong and it will never happen." I said in my 'don't argue with me' tone.

"What she said. Who would fall for someone as ugly as the hag over here." Sai said as he came into the living room. I glared daggers at him.

"What the hell Sai! Ino wasn't hurt!" I said as I tried to punch him. He easily dodged it by ducking. He quickly got up and sighed as he started to walk to his room. I followed him as I was about to give him a lecture. Ino had an amused look on her face as Shikamaru sighed.

"Troublesome…"

"Don't ignore me!" I snapped as I entered his messy room. The smell of ink and other art products filled my nostrils. All the drawings on the floor and bed were half done. I wondered why. There was a large canvas all the way in the corner and it was covered by a gray sheet.

"I'm not ignoring you. I'm just avoiding a confrontation." Sai said with a fake smile. "Now, if you excuse me, I'd like to relax. Carrying you was like carrying Snorlax from Pokemon."

My mouth dropped. OH. HELL. NO.

"Why I ought to-"I was cut off when I felt warm lips pressed against my own. "Good night Ugly." He gave me another fake smile before closing the door on my face. He had left me gaping like a fish in the empty hallways.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**BONUS STORY**

**Stuff Animals and Ice Cream  
**

Sakura frowned as she came home from preschool. Iruka-sensei had walked her home since both her parents were on a business trip and Iruka couldn't contact Sasori to pick her up.

"I'll leave it to you to explain what happened today. Luckily the teacher on guard saw everything or else I would have to call your parents." Iruka said as he ruffled Sakura's hair. Sakura bowed to her teacher as he happily waved goodbye. Entering the house, Sakura noticed that Sasori was home. Why didn't he pick her up like usual? She entered her older brother's room to see him working on something at his desk. A puppet to be exact.

"Nii-san?" Sakura called out. Sasori said nothing.

"Nii-san!" Sakura said louder. Sasori turned around in his chair.

"What is it?" He asked. Sakura pouted.

"You didn't pick me up today!" Sakura said with tears in her eyes. Her brother's eyes widened as he looked at the clock beside him.

"It's twelve already?" Sasori said surprised.

"You forgot about me!" Sakura started to cry. Alarmed, Sasori went and carried his little sister.

"Don't cry. I'm sorry. I was really busy that i forgot." Sasori said gently. He placed a kiss on her cheek. "How about this, if i treat you out to ice cream and buy you a new toy, will you forgive me?"

"New toy?" Sakura repeated happily. It was the first time she ever got anything from her brother. She nodded as Sasori chuckled.

"Let me get ready first." Sasori said. "You too."

Sakura saluted her brother as she ran to her room excited. She was actually going to go hang out with her favorite person in the whole wide world. Well, her parents were important too, but Sasori came in first.

Dressed up in a simple light purple dress and black mary janes, she ran downstairs to see Sasori already waiting for her. She felt his warm big hands take in her small ones as the two walked into the city. People greeted the siblings as they greeted back.

"So how was your day at school?" Sasori asked breaking the silence between them.

"I got into a fight!" Sakura said happily. Sasori had stopped walking as Sakura continued to walk and pet the neighborhood dog.

"What did you say?" Sasori asked, not believing his ears. His innocent little Sakura was involved in a fight?

"There's this mean girl named Ami. She's really rude. She calls me billboard-brow..." Sakura said with a frown. "Today she was picking on this boy because he was fat so i shoved a mud-pie in her face. I had to get time out and turn my green card to a red card. I didn't get to play during lunch. I didn't mean to have worms go down her shirt. Honestly, i swear!"

Sasori shook his head. That's what he loved about Sakura. She was so kind. The two decided to go the toy store first as Sakura picked out a white stuffed bunny. After paying for the toy, the two finally made it to the ice cream parlor a couple minutes later as Sasori ordered for the two of them. Sakura sat at the table as three new people entered the parlor. She assumed they were brothers and the third one was a friend of the younger one. The tallest one seemed to be Sasori's age as the younger one was about her age if not younger. She knew she was taller than the boy and the next boy. The third boy was blonde and had blue eyes.

Sakura watched as Sasori glared at the young blonde.

"Nice cat you have." The blonde boy said to her as Sakura gave him a 'WTF' look. "You're really pretty!"

"It's a rabbit you idiot." The other younger boy said.

Sakura's mouth dropped as she pointed her finger at the younger raven haired boy. He was cute but he did a 'No No!' "OOH! You said a very bad word!"

"I did?"

"Yeah, Sasuke, you did!" The blond boy said as he stuck his tongue out at his friend. "I'm Naruto by the way."

"Sakura." Sakura introduced herself.

"Whatever." Sasuke said as he frowned. "Girls have cooties. I don't want to be friends with you. Rabbits are stupid!" He said as he grabbed the toy from her.

Sakura's eyes widened as she pulled back on her toy but the stubborn boy wouldn't let go.

"Let go!" Sasuke said.

"No! It's my toy! You let go!" Sakura shouted, catching the attention of the two older brothers.

"Uh, Itachi-niisan!" Naruto began to call out.

"Hey, Sasuke!" The guy next to Sasori began to say.

"Sakura!" Sasori said as he quickly paid for the ice cream.

"LET GO!" Sakura and Sasuke shouted as they both pulled on the stuff animal hard. Naruto watched with amazement as the rabbit was ripped in half as it snowed cotton. He looked to see the pink haired girl's eyes began to get watery as her face showed that she was about to cry. He watched the look on his best friend's face. It was full of shock, worry, guilt, and embarrassment.

"Oooh, you did a very bad thing!" Naruto said to Sasuke, who let go of the other half of the rabbit.

Sakura fell to her knees as she cried a river. Unsure what to do, Sasuke fell to his knees as well as he too cried. Naruto, not wanting to be left out, cried as well. Itachi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sasori wondered if this was the reason the older boy next to him had lines on his faces. He handed Naruto his ice cream. That stopped him from cry for no reason. He placed the other two cups of ice cream on the nearby table.

Sasori had done the same as he squatted next to Sakura. "Don't cry." He said rubbing her back.

Her cries turned to hiccups as she covered her face in her knees. "I-I-I-It was the f-f-first present aniki g-gave me and he b-broke it!"

"It's alright. I'll just buy you a new one." Sasori said touched by his sister's words as he glared at the other crying child. He looked up at his classmate to see him calming his little brother down as well.

"I-It won't be the same." Sakura wailed.

"I'm sorry about this Haruno-san." Itachi said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's alright Uchiha-san. Your brother didn't mean to."

"No." Itachi shook his head as he looked at his little brother. "Apologize to her."

Sasuke said nothing as he got up and ran out of the parlor. Naruto ran after his best friend. Itachi grabbed the two cups of ice cream before chasing after his foolish little brother. Sasori sighed as he picked up his little sister and took her home.

The next day, Sasori had come to pick up his sister to see her holding onto a green dinosaur. There was a small smile on her face as she touched her cheek. Sasori frowned. Someone had made a move on his sister. There will be hell to pay when he finds out that person. He had a good feeling who it was too.

**This bonus story is actually canon to the story but you'll find out how. Was it cute or nah? haha who can guess where i got the green dinosaur from? Anyhoo, Sakura doesn't remember this encounter (bonus story) due to certain things that happened in the past.**** So she doesn't realize that Naruto and Sasuke were the boy from that day. Short I know, but I had a writer's block. So this is all I could come up with. Next chapter will be about Hikaru' last day and how Sakura will finish her next mother goal. Please review everyone.**

-Kumiko


	24. Love Love Love

**Let's pick up where we left off. Sai had gone and interrupted Sakura's date with Hikaru saying Ino was in trouble. Going home, she finds out that he lied and yells at him. Before she knew it, Sai kissed her. Now is the day Hikaru leaves.**

**Sakura Kiss**

I sighed as I arrived at the train station with my boys. They didn't trust me alone with Hikaru. We made it to the platform where I saw Hikaru with his parents.

"Hurry this up ugly!" Sai said. I turned and glared at him. He was sketching something in his drawing pad.

"Sakura-chan! How nice of you to see us off." Mrs. Kawasaki said as she hugged me. She then noticed the boys.

"Mrs. Kawasaki, this is Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame, Neji Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara, and Sai Sakamoto…" I said Sai's name with a little irritation and a light blush. How dare he act like nothing happened last night! Mrs. Kawasaki nodded as she went to help her husband put all their stuff on the train.

"Sakura…" Hikaru began to say.

"Hikaru, I came to tell you my reply…" I said as I went and held his hands.

Naruto gasped as Shino had to hold him tight to put him in his place.

"Reply to what?" Sasuke growled. Shikamaru held him by the arm.

"I came here to see you off as a friend!" I said. It was silent as Hikaru put his head down, his bangs blocking his eyes from view.

"At least she's saving him from her ugliness." Sai mumbled. I twitched as I punched him in the stomach.

"Shut it Sai!" I growled.

Hikaru let a small smile appear on his face. "I see. It seems I lost…"

"Hikaru. Let's go now!" Mr. Kawasaki called out from inside the train. I walked Hikaru to the door. This moment seemed like something from a drama. Hikaru was about to aboard the train but stopped.

"Sakura…." Hikaru said holding on to the rail.

"Yes?" I asked as I tilted my head to the side. He smirked as he brought his face close to mine. It all happened so quickly, I couldn't really process it fast enough.

"YOU BASTARD!" Naruto shouted as he escaped Shino's grip. Naruto was flicking his middle fingers at the train. Mr. and Mrs. Kawasaki gasped and blushed as Hikaru just grinned full heartedly as he quickly entered the train. The doors closed. Neji glared at Hikaru who just waved safely inside. Sasuke was throwing out profanities as he was ordering Shino to press the button to stop the train and kill Hikaru. Sai's pencil snapped in half from his grip. Shikamaru just sighed and commented about how troublesome everything had become. And me? I was holding on to the left side of my face as I turned red. Seriously! Like what the hell! His train disappeared from view leaving me to deal with the over protective boys.

"Oh, I swear, the next time you show your face in this town again, I will kick your ass, believe it!" Naruto shouted. "How dare you make the move on Sakura-chan!"

I continued to stare into space as I thought about what Hikaru had whispered to me before blowing in my ear.

"_I'll let you go. But you better get his heart. If I'm correct, he's already 98% yours." _

We all arrived home as I went to my room to think. What the heck did Hikaru mean when he said he's already 98% mine? Who the hell was 'he' anyways? I screamed in my pillow as I heard knocking on my door. I slowly went and opened my door to see a serious Sai. I swear, my blush-o-meter was rising. It was at 3 right now.

"Sakura." He said. He looked so serious, I was freaking out.

"W-What?" I asked.

"Did Hikaru kiss you on the cheek earlier?" He asked. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination but he seemed pissed off about it.

"Is that what you boys were getting so worked up about? He didn't kiss me. He just told me something embarrassing." I said blushing as Sai leaned his forearm against the frame of my door. Was he getting closer? Omg, it felt like it was getting hotter by the second. The meter went from 3 to 5.

"Good." He smirked as he pressed his lips softly against mine. It wasn't like the first kiss we shared last night. No, this one seemed to have lasted longer. He soon pulled away as he smiled. "I'd hate to kick his ass for stealing a kiss from you." He said as he walked away. "Good night hag."

Again that asshole left me standing alone speechless.

**5…6…7…8…9…BOOM.**

My blush-o-meter exploded and I had just fainted, Hinata-style.

Oh how the mighty has fallen…

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"Hello?" Ino called out to me as she waved her hand in front of my face. "Anyone in that large forehead of yours?"

"W-what's wrong with her?" Hinata asked. Karin gave me a worried look before her eyes widened and she smirked.

I continued to touch my lips with a smile I couldn't stop. I replayed last night's moment again and again. I couldn't help this tingling feeling I got. It starts from my toes and I crinkle my nose-STOP IT SAKURA. YOU'RE STARTING TO QUOTE COLBIE CAILLAT! The girls had come over to Ino's house for her sleepover. Her parents were on a business trip so it was safe for me to come over. Tenten and Temari weren't able to make it.

"You're in love!" Karin said offhandedly as she was painting her nails purple. She sounded like she was talking about the weather.

"Excuse me?" I asked as I looked at her. I just came out of my dream-like state.

"No, I agree. I have that same look when Shikamaru kisses me." Ino grinned. "You're in love girlfriend. The only problem is, with which guy?"

"I-It seems like someone kissed you last night." Hinata smiled.

"Which guy stole your heart?" Ino asked.

"No one stole my heart Ino-pig!" I said. "Just drop it."

"Denial." Karin said.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever! I have other important things to worry about at the moment."

"Like what?" Hinata asked.

"I need to find a way to have everyone over for Thanksgiving and not have everyone try to kill each other." I said.

"I'm sure everything thing will be fine!" A new voice said. The girls turned around to see Ino's hot cousin smirking at us.

"Deidara!" Everyone announced.

"What are you doing here?" Ino asked.

"Uncle asked me to come over and watch you. He believed that you would invite Sakura over and wanted me to kick her out. If she was to come over, I was to call him." Deidara said pulling out his phone. Ino's eyes widen in panic. Hinata covered her mouth. Karin continued to paint her nails. I glared at him.

"But, of course…" He said putting it away. "I would never do that to Sakura!" He pulled me into a hug.

"LET GO OF MY BEST FRIEND!" Ino shouted as she threw pillows at him.

Deidara chuckled as he easily dodged it. "I'm bringing a few friends over if you don't mind."

"Sasori-niisan?" I asked. He nodded his head, showing I was right. Ino waved her hand.

"As long as you guys don't make a mess, I'll be fine." She said.

"Where's my favorite pinky?" A voice said.

"Kisame, shut up." Another voice said.

"Hn."

Entering the room were Kisame, my brother, and Itachi.

"Hello ladies!" Kisame grinned. I noticed the bottle of sake in his hands. I guess he noticed me staring at it because then he asked me if I drank.

"Yeah." I said trying to avoid my brother's surprised look.

"How long can you last?" Kisame asked interested.

"Kisame, are you trying to ask my s-"Sasori was cut off.

"I haven't found a decent drinking partner in ages. Deidara here is gone after five drinks. Itachi is two and you don't drink." Kisame said.

I smirked. "I'd last much longer than you."

"Oh? Is that a challenge?" Kisame asked.

"Sakura, don't encourage him!" Sasori warned me.

"If you want it to be." I grinned. Kisame grinned back as he pulled me out of the room.

"That's it. We're having a drinking contest!" Kisame announced. Sasori sighed and glared at Kisame.

An hour later, we were our seventh bottle. Everyone gathered around the kitchen to watch.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Karin asked.

"Kisame." Itachi said.

"I don't think so. It's Sakura." Ino said as she cheered for me. "She can hold her liquor longer than guys twice her size."

"Kisame has never gone more than five bottles before." Deidara said. "What's Sakura's limit?"

Hinata smiled. "S-Seven."

"What!" Sasori said surprised. Everyone turned their attention back to us as Kisame pointed his blue finger at me.

"Y-yous goin down…" Kisame said swaying a bit. We were both red and sluggish.

"T-This is the last drink." I began to say. "Whoever falls first loses."

"And loser gets to do whatever the winner wants." Kisame said. We nodded at the agreement as we downed the last drink. We slowly got up as we waited for the other to fall. Everyone gasped as the tall blue guy fell to the ground.

"HA-HA!" I shouted as I spun around. Maybe I spun a little too much because I began to throw up.

"S-Sakura!" Hinata said as she came to assist me. "I won!" Before I knew it, I was knocked out as well.

I woke up a couple hours later to see me in the bed with Ino. It was cloudy outside as I clutched my head. Stupid hangover.

"Here you go!" The sweet voice of Hinata said as she offered me a glass of water and aspirin.

"Thanks…" I said still tired. I yawned as I asked if my brother and his friends were still here.

"Ah, yes, they're chilling in the living room making fun of Kisame." Hinata smiled. I grinned. That's right. I beat him in a drinking contest.

"I have to tell him what to do now!" I cheered. Hinata helped me go downstairs as we met up with the boys.

"Did you sleep well?" Sasori asked me.

"Yeah." I smiled. "So Kisame, now that you lost," I paused thinking about what to say. Kisame sighed loudly as Itachi and Deidara chuckle at his predicament.

"Don't tell me I have to wait you hand and foot…" Kisame said still trying to deal with his hangover.

I shook my head. "Nah, you guys just have to come to my Thanksgiving dinner with my friends and family."

"That's it?" Kisame asked surprised.

"Did you want to be my slave instead?" I asked with a grin.

"Just give us a date Haruno-san." Itachi said politely. "We will do our best to make it to your get together."

"Ah, just Sakura is fine." I said with a smile. I got Akatsuki in my hands and of course my friends are going to make it. I just needed to find a way to lie this on the boys back home.

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

"OH, HELL NO!" Sasuke glared at me across the table. He wasn't happy about his brother being invited to come to the Thanksgiving party. No, that was an understatement. He was downright furious. This was Sasuke we are talking about. He'd rather wear a pink tutu and prance all over school than have a Thanksgiving dinner with the brother he hates.

"Please Sasuke-kun?" I begged as he turned his head away. Immature much?

"Just remove that large stick up your ass and make mother happy!" Naruto said.

"Hn." Sasuke said. I rolled my eyes. That was not a word.

"Sorry, I don't speak Uchihaness. " I said. The boys chuckled at the comment as Sasuke frowned and glared at me even more. There was only one thing to do. It always worked on Gaara. Hopefully, it would work on Sasuke as well. My eyes grew big as I made sure it was glistening with fake tears. My cheeks had a tint of pink as I pouted. "Sasuke-kun…"

I mentally smirked as I saw him flinch as he tried to look away once again. Naruto joined me as well with the puppy dog look. He was actually pretty good with that.

"Please…." We both said.

Shikamaru and the others just watched as Sasuke sighed. "Fine. But I'm not talking to him. Don't expect me to be all brotherly to him!"

I gave out a huge smile as I hugged him. "Thank you!" I said. "Trust me, it won't be so bad!" I grinned.

After dinner, Shino offered to help me with the dishes. As the rest of the boys left the dining room, I went to collect the plates as a hand brushed mine when I went to pick up a cup. I looked up to see Sai looking at me with a fake smile.

"Everything okay Hag?" Sai asked. I blushed as I almost dropped the cup.

"Everything is fine!" I said as I sped to the kitchen where Shino was. Ten minutes passed as we were still working on the dishes. Shino soon broke the silence."Why are you so happy about Thanksgiving?" He asked me.

I looked up at him and smiled. "Thanksgiving is a day where family comes together and be thankful."

"Don't you celebrate Thanksgiving every year?" My eyes darkened as my smile dropped.

"I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving since I was six." I said sadly. Though I couldn't see his eyes, I could tell Shino regretted asking me that.

"I'm sorry if I brought up sad memories, Sakura-san…" Shino said. I shook my head and gave him a fake smile. Yup, I've been hanging around Sai WAY too much.

"It's alright. I'll make up all those years with this dinner. It will mean a lot of everyone came and got along with each other. I never really experienced a family before. I was too young to remember." I said as I finished cleaning. Shino patted me on the head.

"It will be the best thanksgiving you'll ever have. That's my promise to you." Shino said as he put the rag away. I was expecting him to leave the kitchen but he continued to stay up. It looked like something was on his mind.

"Is something wrong Shino?" I asked as I patted his right cheek. I couldn't really reach so I had to tippy toe.

"It's nothing of importance." He said. I gave him a look that told him I wasn't buying it. He sighed as he led me to his room. I never had been to his room before. I haven't been to any of the boys' room except for Sai and Sasuke. Well I didn't really get to see what Sasuke's room was since I was so busy with that challenge a few months back. Shino's room was actually pretty clean. His walls were a nice green color and had a large bed but not as large as mine. I noticed he had a little library in the corner of his room with his own computer and desk and what I believed were bug collections. He sat on the bed as he patted to a spot next to him. I sat down as he looked at his hands.

"Shino?" I began to say.

"Um, if you were to find out someone years younger than you liked you, what would be your reaction?" He suddenly asked me. I was shocked at how out of character he was. He probably was too because he began to blush.

OMG! Shino had a crush on an older woman! Wait, could he possibly be talking about Temari?

"How old is she?" I asked.

"19." He answered. I was about to smile but stopped. Temari wasn't 19! She was 20.

"Who is she?" I questioned. Should I tell this to Temari? Was she going to get hurt?

"Hana…" He said as he went to his desk and pulled out an album. He came back to me as he was flipping through pages. He stopped at a picture of four people. It was a picture of him, little Kiba, little Hinata, and a girl I never met. I noticed she had the same tattoos Kiba had. She was really pretty.

"Is she related to Kiba?" Shino nodded and informed me that she was Kiba's older sister. He had a crush on her since he was young. AW! HOW CUTE! Oh no, but poor Temari. "Does Kiba know about your feelings for his sister?"

"He has a feeling but he never confirmed it." Shino said.

"Why don't you just confess to her?" I asked. He shook his head.

"She's engaged…" He said. I could hear the hurt and sadness in his voice. I frowned.

"For how long?" I asked.

"A couple months. It was an arranged marriage. Kiba isn't happy about it. He has a sister-complex." Shino said as he fixed his glasses. "Kiba would always joke about how he'd be happier if I got with his sister instead."

"Then you still have a chance!" I said as I got up.

"It's too late Sakura-san. I don't have a chance. She's getting married in a few weeks."

"You won't know if you don't try. You can either give up and think if things would have been different if you told her, or know that you tried." I said as I crossed my arms.

"It's alright Sakura-san. I'm already okay with it as long as Hana is happy." Shino said. I growled as I stormed out of his room. This was like Shikamaru all over again!

I walked to the Youthful Café as I saw that it was only Lee, Tenten, Kankuro, Chouji, and Kiba working today.

"Sakura-san!" Lee called out as he came to hug me. I hugged him back as I greeted the others. "Kiba, we need to talk."

Kiba looked at me with a light blush. "Sure thing."

"I shall come too to make sure Kiba-kun doesn't do anything to ruin Sakura-san youthful-"Tenten held Lee back.

"Just leave them alone. Sakura can handle." Tenten sighed but she gave me a worried look. I immediately avoided her eyes as I led Kiba outside the café. Kiba and I sat down on a bench. The little pup next to him found its way on my lap as I petted it.

"I heard your older sister is getting married." I said. He looked at me surprised.

"How did you hear about that?" He asked me.

"Shino…" Was all I said.

"So he does like her." Kiba grinned. "I knew it!"

I let a small smile appear on my face. "Who is she getting married to though?"

"This guy named Kabuto." Kiba growled. "My dad owed his family money but we don't have enough. So in return he wants Hana to get married to his son."

"Kabuto? Isn't he in a Yakuza?" I asked shocked. "What is your dad doing messing around with people like him?"

"I can't ask him." Kiba said. "He died when I was younger."

"Sorry…" I said. He shook his head.

"It's cool. I wish there was some way to stop the engagement." Kiba sighed. "I'd do something. Trust me, but it's just that, I don't want to have something bad happen to people I care about like my family, Shino, Hinata, even you…" He said with a light blush.

Since Kabuto was in the Yakuza and there seemed to be turmoil between the gangs, I think I know what to do.

"Leave it to me." I said. "Does your sister want to be with him?"

"Kabuto? Hell no! She hates that asshole." Kiba said. Akamaru barked with him.

"No not Kabuto. Does your sister have feelings for Shino?" I asked.

He looked at me surprised. "I don't know. I never really asked her."

"You do that then. I'll take care of Kabuto." I said as I pulled out my phone.

"What are you going to do?" Kiba asked worried. I gave him a smirk.

"Getting favors." I grinned. The phone rang as someone picked it up.

'_Sakura-sama?'_

"Hey Fuu, are you busy tonight?"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Sakura-sama! Does this mean you're coming back to The Red Scarves?" Fuu asked me as we met up at the park near my house. I told the boys I was going to Sasori's place so that they wouldn't freak out.

"No, she isn't." A voice said. It was Tenten and Temari. I was surprised.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked.

"Kiba told us that you were going to stop Hana's engagement with Kabuto." Temari frowned. I wondered if she knew about Shino's feelings for Hana.

"It's nice to see you two again." Fuu said. "It's been a while." She was fixing her red sack. It crossed on her chest as she then adjusted her red clip. The red articles showed her affiliation with the red scarves.

"Indeed." Tenten said as she fixed her red scarf. Temari fastened her red belt as they all looked at me. I tied my infamous pink hair up into a high ponytail as I placed my mask on. Tenten, Temari, and Fuu did the same.

"Promise us you will not spill any blood or get any wounds that cause you to bleed. Gaara will be enraged that we let you get hurt and that he wasn't here." Temari warned me. "And you know what happened last time."

"Of course." I said. I looked at our reflections in at a building's window close by. Fuu was wearing a fishnet top that went to the midsection of her stomach and fishnet shorts that went to her upper thighs. Covering those were a white top and white shorts. She also had white arm warmers. Tenten was wearing her infamous pink Chinese top and black capris. Temari was wearing a short kimono with fishnets on her legs. Her red belt held the kimono close to her body. I soon looked at myself. I was wearing a black sleeveless turtle next with black shorts that went up to my upper thighs. I wore black knee high boots with heels as I had warmers on my elbows as I then took out a red scarf and tied it around my waist. It had Sakura patterns on it.

"Let's do this!" I said as we headed to Kabuto's mansion.

It took an hour to get to his house. On the way there, we planned everything out. It was like this. We were going to find the files of Kiba's dad and whatever connected the Inuzuka clan with Kabuto and destroy it. Fuu, Tenten, and Temari were going to act as distractions while I snuck into the house. The moment I got the files, I was to leave as fast as I can without harming any innocents.

Fuu smirked as Tenten and Temari threw her over the large gates in a cheerleader like move. She opened the gates from inside as Tenten and Temari rushed in and drew attention to them. Yakuza members came from left and right. I wasn't worried about the large numbers. The Red Scarves weren't known as the most dangerous group of Konoha for a reason.

I silently passed through and snuck into the house. It seemed like Kabuto's parents were out of town. I hid from the butlers and maids as I made it to what seemed like Kabuto's floor. Kiba had told me that Kabuto's room was on the third floor of the mansion. He remembered since his family had to come over to meet Kabuto's family. It was most likely all the files were in his room since his parents were barely home from what Kiba knew. Kabuto had a little sister as well. It seemed like his parents took her with them. Good, I wouldn't have to use her as a way to get my way.

Sneaking into the room at the end of the hall, I pulled out a small flashlight. It seemed like no one was in the room. It was Kabuto's room alright. I mean the large conceited picture of him was proof enough. I placed the flashlight between my teeth as I saw a large cabinet and began to go through them. It seemed to be folder of people. It was like he had information on just about everyone. There was even one about me. I quickly checked to see it had almost all my information. That bastard! I quickly took it and placed it in my bag. I looked through more to grab my sons and my friends. I noticed that Sasuke's file was the largest one. What a stalker. I quickly grabbed all the Inuzuka's files and placed in the bag. At the moment, the door to the room swung open. Shocked, I accidentally dropped my flashlight as it rolled to the feet of the person that entered my room. I was caught. Acting quickly, I pulled out a knife as I grabbed the person by the arm and placed the weapon close to the person's neck.

A small cry was heard from the person below me. I immediately let go and grabbed the flashlight. Under me was a little girl with long silver hair and onyx eyes. She seemed to be no younger than eight.

"Y-You're not Kabuto-niichan…." She whimpered.

"Shit." I said as I helped her up and hugged her. "I'm sorry for what I did. Is your brother home?"

I felt her shake her head.

"He went to meet up with his new friend. He always leaves me alone at home but his group of friends downstairs always watches over me." She said. I could tell she was still scared. I went to touch my face but realized that my mask was on. Maybe that's why she was afraid of me. I slowly took it off as I went to turn on the lights in the room.

She let out a gasp. "You're hair is pink!" She said as she went to touch it. I let out a small smile. How could a girl this cute have a brother like Kabuto? It just didn't make sense.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"Yumiko." She smiled. "What are you doing in niichan's room?"

"I came to pick up something from him. Please don't tell him I was here. Keep it a secret between us two." I begged her.

Her onyx eyes widened with what seemed like happiness.

"Friends keep secrets for each other. Does this mean we're friends?" She asked me. I could help but laugh. She really was cute.

"Okay, but only if you can guess my name correctly." I grinned. She seemed like a smart girl.

She looked at me intensely as she gave me a nervous smile. "Sa-kura?" She guessed.

"Good job squirt." I said as I patted her head. I was expecting her to leave happily as I turned off the lights in the room. I felt a small tug on my scarf. Yumiko continued to hold on to it.

"What's wrong?" I asked. She jumped a bit as she blushed.

"C-Can you tuck me in tonight? Niisan usually does, but he stopped…" She pouted. She looked like she was going to cry. Why was she getting to me?

**It's because she reminds you of yourself when you were little. You were like that when Sasori would leave you at home by yourself.**

_Shut up._

Great, the evil voice in my head was back. I had to go to a therapist for a year to get rid of her. So much for that! With all the terrible things I've done in the past, my therapist said hearing this voice in my head was a side effect.

"Okay." I said as she led me to her room. I tuck her in as quickly as possible. I could hear the fighting still going on down below. I opened her window and was about to jump when her little voice called to me.

"Sakura-neechan?"

"Hm?" I asked as I put on my mask.

"Will you be my big sister?" She asked softly. I was silent for a bit as her words got to me. I sighed as I lifted my mask up a bit so she could see my smiling face.

"I'll be the best older sister you'll ever have." I grinned as I jumped off the window.

After beating up a bunch of idiots, the girls and I ran to an alley to catch our breaths.

"Good job girls." I said.

"It's just like the old days." Fuu said.

Tenten took off her mask as she sadly gave it back to Fuu.

"We walked away from this life. I'm sorry Fuu-chan. I know how much you want us back. But we just can't…" Tenten said as she looked at her mask in Fuu's hand.

"…I know." Fuu said with watery eyes. "It's just not the same without you three. You three kicked ass. You were the best fighters."

Temari smirked at the younger girl. "Well you aren't second-in-command for nothing. I'm proud of you."

"Temari-sempai!" Fuu cried as she hugged Temari.

I let out a bitter smile. Doing something like this made me miss my old life as a Yankee. I mentally shook my head. After what happened with Ino, I stopped for her and for me.

"So how did your side of the mission go?" Tenten asked changing the subject.

I grinned as I showed her the folders in my backpack. "What do you think?"

Fuu tilted her head back and laughed. "This is why you were the leader of The Red Scarves!"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

A few days later, rumors were spreading around Konoha Academy like wildfire.

"Did you hear that the Mansion of the leader of the Oto Yakuza was broken into?"

"Not just that, his marriage to Kiba's sister became invalid when they couldn't find the papers that forced them to get married in the first place."

"I've never seen Kiba so happy!"

"Don't forget Shino-sama. I swear to Kami, I saw him smile today! He must have feelings for her! NO! SHINO-SAMA!"

"I think I saw Kiba's sister here at school. She is really beautiful."

I walked by all these people gossiping in the hallways. It was lunch time as the hallways were too crowded with people talking about the latest news. I sighed as I went to the rooftops since it was the only place I could think of to be alone and where its peace and quiet. I was surprised to see Shino there with a girl. She had her long brown hair in a low ponytail as her cheeks were blushing, clashing with the red tattoos on her face. IT WAS HANA!

I quickly hid as Hana and Shino hugged. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Hana walked to the door and left.

"You can come out now Sakura-san." Shino said. I jumped. Damn, he was good.

"Ehehe, hello son!" I said sheepishly.

"Are you the reason why people are gossiping today?" Shino asked me as he got closer. I wondered if he was happy or upset. Either way, I couldn't tell. A small smile appeared on his lips as he pulled me into an awkward but friendly hug.

"Thank you." He said. My eyes widened before I returned the hug.

"Anything for my son!" I laughed.

The sound of the door banging loudly against the wall was heard as we quickly let go of each other. We looked to see the shocked look of Naruto, a bored Shikamaru, and a glaring Sasuke, and a frowning Sai.

"AHAH! UNHAND MY SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto shouted. "I leave you alone with her and you're all over her! YOU ALREADY HAVE HANA! It's always the quiet ones!" Naruto pointed his finger at us. I frowned as I took my shoe and threw it at his head.

"Idiot!" I said as I laughed.

Shikamaru sighed as he offered me a bento box. "Here."

"Let's all eat lunch here." Sai said as he led me to a spot against the fence and sat next to me on my right. Sasuke went and sat on my left. Shino, Shikamaru, and Naruto sat in front of me. I let out a smile. I hope our days could be like this forever.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"How could this happen? Losing to three girls!" He growled as he threw his papers to the floor.

"N-Niisan?" A scared voice called out.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT, YUMIKO?" Kabuto snapped. His eyes widened when he saw his little sister on the verge of tears. He sighed as he pulled his sister close to him.

"I'm sorry…" He said. "I care about you. You do know that right?"

Yumiko silently nodded as she hugged her brother.

"Did the strangers come and attack you?" Yumiko was silent for a bit.

"No. They never came up to me. I hid really good." She said as Kabuto place a few strands of her hair behind her right ear.

Kabuto was going to say something when his cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"They took my folders!"

Silence.

"Yes, they also took Sasuke Uchiha's. I'm sorry."

Silence.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure I have Sasuke join us even if we have to use blackmail or kill someone important to him."

Silence.

"I wasn't talking about Itachi or Naruto. Didn't you hear? Sasuke has a new mother name Sakura Haruno and I've seen firsthand how over protective he is of her."

Silence.

"It was the Red Scarves."

Silence.

"No, I never met The Former Leader of The Red Scarves. My men told me they were the ones who broke into my home though."

Silence.

"It's impossible for them to know about you. Yeah you were the reason the biggest threat, the 9-Tails, broke up. You silenced the older ones. The younger members like Naruto-kun, have no idea."

Silence.

"Of course. I'll find out any information about the former leader and Sakura Haruno and I'll leave the rest for you to handle."

Silence.

"Until then." With that Kabuto hung up his phone. "Just you wait Uchiha, you and your 'mother' are the key to my success. Once I hand you over to him, with his help, my group will be the strongest. I just need to get The Lollipops, The Ladies, and The Red Scarves out of the way and find their missing former leader. From what he said, she's the one we need to watch out for. And hopefully, I'll be the one to end her life and get known as the one who destroyed the most powerful gang leader of all time! Everyone will soon fear me!"

Before Yumiko knew it, her older brother began to laugh evilly. She shivered. Her brother was changing…for the worse.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

**How was that? Good? Bad? Yumiko will play an important role. She's not just a random character I will forget as the story goes on. So yeah Shino will be getting with Hana instead of Temari. So who will she end up with? You just have to wait and see. More SaiSaku moments for everyone! By now, everyone can tell who Sakura is going to end up with. I've never read a high school fic where it was Sai who gets to be with Sakura when there are other guys after her. It's usually Sasuke or a harem. Also, Can anyone guess who the mysterious person on the phone was? Guess it right and Sasuke will give you a strip show!**

_**Sasuke:**__ EXCUSE ME?_

**Fine, fine Itachi, Sasori, and Deidara will be the ones to give you one because they're not a stupid asshole like you who broke Sakura's heart! Go die in a ditch Sas-gay. **

_**Sakura**__: May I watch?_

_**Sasuke**__: Sakura, what the hell? You're supposed to still wait for me to see whether or not Kishimoto will let me see the light again. Don't give up on me yet!_

_**Deidara:**__ Aye, Sakura, want to see if I'm doing it right, un? *Begins to take off shirt with a sexy grin*_

_**Sakura:**__ Let me help you with that!_

_**Sasuke:**__ SAKURA!_

_**Sakura:**__ Later Sasuke-kun, I'm busy._

_**Sasuke:**__ And you! *Points at Deidara who has already half stripped* Didn't I kill you?_

_**Deidara:**__ In the Manga/Anime? Yes you did, bastard. But this is fucking fanfiction and I will forever be alive, bitch! Now Sakura, let's take this somewhere private and away from annoying chicken ass haired brats._

_**Sakura**__: Sure…_

_**Sasuke:**__ Grows mushrooms in a corner with Tamaki from Ouran._

**Spread the DeiSaku love! Bwahahaha! *COUGH* anyways, please review everyone!**

**Love Kumiko**


	25. Dealing with Attraction

**Hey everyone. How are you all doing? This chapter will be very long and consist of a lot of romance and drama. I hope you guys will enjoy this. Please review everyone.**

**Sakura Kiss**

I sighed as I entered Kakashi's classroom. I chose to sit next to Karin and Ino today. I wasn't feeling good and the girls could tell. Genma's class was boring as we had a test. In Kurenai's class, we just took notes.

"You look pale." Ino commented.

"I'm just tired." I said. "All I ask for is peace and quiet for this class."

"SAI-KUN!" A voice screeched.

Kasumi.

"Hello!" Sai greeted back with a fake smile. I rolled my eyes as Kasumi practically pressed her chest against Sai's back.

"Dear, your birthday is coming up. I was wondering what you wanted as a gift." Kasumi smiled.

My eyes widened as my mouth dropped. SAI'S BIRTHDAY WAS THIS MONTH? Trying to play it off, I slowly got closer trying to find out when his birthday was.

"My birthday isn't until the 25th." Sai said. "You don't need to get me anything."

I quickly looked at the calendar on my phone. That was ten days from now! Shit!

"You didn't know?" Karin whispered to me. "What kind of mother are you?"

"No one told me!" I cried.

"Take him out to dinner, just you two!" Karin offered me.

"Ooh! Take him to the new amusement park that's opening up tomorrow. I got two tickets but I can't make it." Ino said with a frown. "My grandmother is coming over to visit from France and wants to meet Shikamaru. So I'll give them to you."

"Oh, Ino I couldn't." I said.

"It's okay forehead. I know you don't have money to buy things since you don't want to use your late husband's cash." Ino smiled. I sighed before hugging her.

"Thank you." I smiled back.

"No problem, just tell me how the date goes." She winked. "And I get to dress you up."

"It won't be a date because I don't like him like that!" I growled. Why don't people understand that I don't like Sai? I won't. I can't!

"Keep telling yourself that, hun." Karin said. Ten minutes before class ended, Kakashi waltz right in with that perverted book in hand.

"Hello class. Sorry I'm late, you see I-"

"LIAR!" The class screamed.

"Save it for someone who cares." Sasuke said.

"Oh, how you wound me!" Kakashi said holding onto his left chest. "Anyhoo, I just want to say that we will have our annual cultural festival on the last Saturday of this month, which is the 28th. The school will be split up by grades. First years have to deal with decorating the entire school and announcing it to the neighborhood. The second years are running food and game stands outside and inside. For the third years, since there isn't a whole bunch of you this year, you guys will be hosting a play. Meet Anko-sensei in the theater afterschool. I'm making it mandatory to participate for my class. Do it and I'll give you guys all A's for this semester. The other third years not participating in the play will do other activities in classrooms and around the campus. Anyways, class dismissed." Kakashi said as he walked of the class.

Afterschool, the class met up with others at the theater. I saw the rest of the group there.

"Alright maggots! It's your turn to shine for this year's cultural festival. Last year's third years performed Romeo and Juliet and went out with a bang." Anko announced.

"Yeah, Tenten played Romeo and Neji was Juliet." Naruto snickered to me. I had to hold my laughter. Oh I wish I could have seen that.

"This year, we will be performing Alice in Wonderland." Taking out a basket with slips, Anko passed it to Ino. She took one out and read it out loud.

"I'm the white queen!" Ino smiled. The basket was passed around and the list of roles was made.

**Ino Yamanaka**- White Queen

**Ami Watanabe**-Dutchess

**Karin Takeshima**-Queen of Hearts

**Gaara Sabaku**- The White Rabbit

**Sasuke Uchiha**-Mad Hatter

**Naruto Uzumaki**-March Hare

**Sai Sakamoto**- Cheshire Cat

**Kiba Inuzuka**-Tweedledee

**Shino Aburame**- Tweedledum

**Suigetsu Hoozuki**-Knaves of Hearts

**Shikamaru Nara**-Caterpillar

**Kasumi Hamasaki**-Dormouse

**Hinata Hyuga**- Alice

I frowned when I realized that I didn't get any of the main parts. Chouji was okay with his part in the play. He was a card. What was I? I was there to help with curtain call and an extra with no lines. Hooray…SIKE!

"I-I'm sorry Sakura." Hinata said coming up to me.

I gave her a smile. "It's okay. I'll just help around the festival. It's no biggy."

"W-Well, I-I have such a huge part. Can you help me with my lines?" Hinata asked with a light blush on her face. I grinned.

It soon became the day before thanksgiving and everyone had dinner with their family before then so they could be able to go to my thanksgiving dinner. Hinata invited me over after their family dinner to help her with her lines. She had gotten it down but needed to practice with her confidence. As I was reading the script, I realized this wasn't anything like the Alice in wonderland I read.

For the play, Alice goes to Wonderland as everyone in Wonderland is in war. The White Queen and Queen of Hearts are sisters and are fighting for power over all nations. So Wonderland is split into two. The only neutral place is the Mad Hatter's place. Alice is the prize the Queens need to take over. In the end, Alice chooses to use the power she has to stop the war by killing herself. The Mad Hatter is the one who can bring her back to life with a kiss since he's in love with her and TAA-DAA, happy ending.

Sasuke kissing Hinata at the end? I wonder how Naruto was going to handle that. Since I had good memory, I was able to remember everyone's lines and help Hinata better herself. As the days went by, I helped decorate costumes and helped others remember their lines.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Thanksgiving came by in a blink of an eye. I was at home stressing in the kitchen. The girls were sweet enough to come early to help me prepare things.

"It's been a while since I've had a thanksgiving dinner." Karin said. "My parents have been so busy with work so I barely get to see th-"Karin stopped when Ino was signaling her to shut up.

"Sakura has never had a thanksgiving before." Ino said with a frown.

"It's okay Ino." I smiled. "She didn't know. Besides, this one will make up for the ones I never had because it will be with you guys."

"Aw!" The girls said as they all went to hug me except Karin. She still was a bit uncomfortable with us. I gave her a gentle smile as I signaled her to come join the hug. She smiled back and did just that.

The doorbell rang as I left the group hug and looked at the clock. It was 5:00 in the afternoon and the dinner didn't start until 6:30. I opened the door to see Gaara and the others. I gave them each a hug as they mingled with the others in the living room. Chouji offered to help test the food in the kitchen. I had sent Neji to buy desserts with Naruto. So I had Sasuke, Sai, Shino, and Shikamaru be the hosts as I was getting everything ready. Everyone was dressed up semi-formal. I had to borrow a black dress from Karin. It was nothing special.

At 6:00, the older guests arrived at the Namikaze household.

"Nii-chan!" I greeted as I hugged Sasori.

"Hey." He said as he had brought some food as well. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Shizune had joined us for this thanksgiving dinner as well. Neji and Naruto arrived a couple minutes later as we all gathered at the table and sat down. Food was being passed around as people were chatting with each other. The thing that made me sad was that Sasuke was ignoring Itachi. Neji was doing the same to Hinata. I wanted this to be perfect.

"It's time to give thanks!" Ino said standing up as she cleared her throat. "I want to thank Forehead for hosting this wonderful thanksgiving and for our wonderful friendship." I smiled at her.

Shikamaru, who was sitting on her left, was next. "I'm thankful for my family and Ino." He said as he placed a kiss on her cheeks. The girls "Awed" as Ino blushed.

"I'm thankful for food!" Chouji said eating a slice of meat. "Oh, and for my loved ones."

"Yosh! It's my turn!" Lee said. "I'm thankful for all my friends and Sakura's youthfulness! If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be where I am now!" Lee grinned as everyone shielded their eyes from the blinding light.

"What the hell, un!" Deidara said.

"You get used to it." I said as I giggled.

"I'm next!" Tenten grinned. "Like Lee, I'm thankful for my family, friends, and of course Sakura!"

"Freedom!" Neji said calmly. Everyone sweat dropped.

"I'm thankful for Akamaru and my loved ones!" Kiba grinned as he patted the puppy on his lap.

"I'm thankful for everything and everyone in my life." Shino said.

"I'm thankful for everyone that made a difference in my life." Hinata smiled shyly.

"I'm thankful to see my loved ones in good health." Tsunade said.

"I'm thankful that God made beautiful creatures called women!" Jiraiya grinned. That earned him laughter from everyone except from an embarrass Tsunade who punched him into next week.

"Idiot!" She grumbled.

"I'm thankful for the second chance my friend gave me." Kakashi said.

"I'm thankful for today." Shizune smiled.

"I'm thankful for my siblings and Sakura." Gaara said.

"Same goes for me." Temari said.

"I'm thankful for my family." Kankuro stated.

"I'm thankful for Ramen, my parents for giving me this life, and the bonds I have with everyone in this room. I'm also thankful that I got to meet Sakura-chan." Naruto grinned.

"I'm thankful for the second chance everyone gave me." Karin smiled as she laced her hands with Suigetsu.

"I'm thankful for life." Suigetsu said.

"I'm thankful that everyone is happy." Jugo said with a light smile.

Next was Pein as he had gotten up from his seat and pull Konan up with him. "I'm thankful that I met Konan, my beautiful soon to be wife!" Pein said as all the girls squealed. HOW CUTE! He had gotten on his knees and pulled out a black velvet box. "Konan, will you marry me?"

Konan cried tears of joy as she wrapped her arms around him. "Yes." Pein got up and kissed her.

"I'm thankful I met you." Konan blushed as she kissed him back. She soon pulled away. "No, I'm thankful for everyday I have with you. I love you." I smiled at the couple as they excused themselves from the room. I soon met eyes with Sai. My stomach felt weird as I quickly broke eye contact and looked who's next. It was Kisame.

"I'm thankful to have met Akatsuki." Kisame said before downing some sake. "Down for another round, pinky?"

"Its okay fish sticks, not tonight." I laughed.

"Kisame." Sasori growled.

"Lighten up Sasori. I just want to redeem myself." Kisame grinned. "It's your turn."

"I'm thankful for having Sakura still here in my life." Sasori said as he smiled at me. "I love you Sakura."

My eyes got watery as I got up from my seat and went to give my brother a hug. He had also gotten up as he met me halfway and hugged me first. I felt a few tears escape as he patted me.

"You're not supposed to make your younger sister cry." I teased. He just ruffled my hair as we went back to our seats.

"Show offs." Deidara said. "I'm thankful for my important people and art, un." Deidara grinned.

"I'm fucking thankful for Jashin." Hidan said.

"Money." Kakuzu said next.

"Tobi's turn! Tobi's turn!" Tobi cheered. "Tobi is thankful for everyone that's here at this dinner."

It was Itachi's turn now as he stared at Sasuke who was glaring at him.

"You have nothing to be grateful for." Sasuke growled. It soon got quiet as I looked at Sasuke in shock. He said he wouldn't start anything.

"You should be grateful that you lived that night. At this moment, you could have been where mom and dad was if it wasn't for me." Itachi said. Sasuke threw his knife at Itachi who quickly dodged it. The knife was embedded into the wall behind Itachi.

"You have no right to call them mom and dad!" Sasuke shouted.

"Hey!" Naruto said getting up from his seat to stop the two brothers.

"Stop it!" I said. Sasuke had jumped his brother was about to throw punches. I quickly went to intervene. Sasuke's eyes were glowing red with anger.

"Sakura-chan, don't get to close. Sasuke can't control himself when he's like this." Naruto said.

"Uchihas! Stop it!" Tsunade said. The boys ignored her as they continued to fight into the next room where they interrupted Pein and Konan.

"Stop!" I snapped as I went to stop Sasuke's punches by trying to grab hold of his arms. In his anger, Sasuke had slapped me across the face with the back of his hand. The sound of his slap echoed through the quiet house as I clutched my cheek. I could feel the stinging sensation. Neji had gone to stop me from falling back. I held on to his shoulders as he was holding my cheek. The brothers continued to fight as I grew more pissed off by the second. I pulled myself out of Neji's hold as I grabbed the nearest object close to me.

"STOP IT!" I shouted as I threw the side table at them. It landed a few feet away from them. That had caused them to stop fighting. Sasuke seemed to have gotten back to normal because he saw the ugly bruise that was forming on my face.

"S-Sakura-" He began to say.

"No!" I cried. I was so freaking angry! "All I wanted was for all of us to be together and bond. I wanted everyone to get along with each other. Is that so hard to ask? You guys are family!" I said as I wiped some tears away from my eyes. I wasn't only looking at Sasuke and Itachi; I was also looking at Neji and Hinata. "Glaring at each other? Ignoring each other? Family doesn't do that to each other. You're supposed to love one another! Care for one another. This?" I said pointing at the brothers. "This isn't family!"

"Sakura-san…" Neji tried to speak. I stopped him.

"You guys are lucky you have your family. Mine was gone since I was six years old." I cried.

"Sakura-"Sasori said coming up to me.

"Want to know what I'm thankful for?" I asked as I laughed bitterly. "I'm thankful that I only have to deal with this until graduation! I hate this! I never asked for this! I never wanted to be a part of your lives! I never wanted to be your mother!" With that I ran out of the house with the slam of the door.

**XxXxXxXxX**

As the door slammed, everyone was silent as they thought about what Sakura had just said.

"Hn." Sasuke said getting up. "What is she tripping about? It's not like this is her first Thanksgiving or anything."

"You don't know her at all." Gaara said angrily as he punched Sasuke in the face. "Sakura never knew what it's like to have a Thanksgiving or a family! Her parents died when she was very young and her brother abandoned her. She grew up without a family. At least you have memories right? I was worried about her becoming your mother or marrying Minato for that matter. She cares too much and gets nothing in return!"

"What?" Sasuke scoffed. "Are you in love with her or something?" At this question, Sasori, Kiba, Neji, Itachi, and Deidara stared at Gaara.

"Of course I love her." He said confidently. Sasuke's eyes widened. He didn't expect that answer. "That's why I won't hand her to either of your guys easily."

"Sakura-san was so happy to have this dinner with us." Shino began to say. "I think we broke her heart with these fights. She never truly experienced what a family was, am I right Haruno-san?" Shino said looking to Sakura's older brother.

Sasori was on the ground covering his head between his legs. "I thought she would have forgiven me. She still resents me…"

"T-That's not true." Hinata said placing a soft hand on his shoulder. "Sakura loves you. You are her only family."

Naruto got close to Sasori and stuck his hand out. "And as Sakura's brother you have to be there for her when she comes to you." Sasori took it as Naruto helped him up. "I love Sakura-chan as a sister as well, so we have to work together to make her happy."

The way Naruto said it sounded like he knew something. "Do you kn-"Sasori never got to ask his question because Naruto went straight to Sasuke and hit him in the head.

"You better go apologize to Sakura-chan when she gets back." Naruto frowned. "Don't think I forgot about you, Itachi and Neji."

"I-I should apologize as well…" Hinata said.

Temari sighed. "Who went to get Sakura?"

"Look who's missing…" Karin grinned.

A certain artist was gone.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Stupid Sasuke!

Stupid Itachi!

Stupid Neji!

URG! Ruining my Thanksgiving dinner like that. Now that I thought back about it, I did say some horrible things, but still! I was so caught up with my thoughts I didn't see the light pole in front of me and ran right into it.

"Ouch! Son of a bitch!" I growled as I rubbed my forehead.

"You leave for a couple minutes and you're already finding ways to make yourself uglier." A voice said.

"Leave me alone." I growled as I continued to walk away. Sai slowly caught up to me as we began walking in the same pace.

"I didn't know this dinner meant a lot to you." Sai soon said, breaking the silence between us.

"I'm sorry. I must have overreacted back there." I said as we stopped near a bunch of stores. I relaxed on the rails that blocked me from the streets. Sai decided to stand in front of me as he watched the cars behind me pass by.

"Did you mean what you said?" Sai asked as he brushed his fingers through his hair.

"What did I say?" I asked as I tilted my head.

"When you said that you never wanted to be a part of my life…" Sai said in a quieter tone, as if he was hurt by that comment. My eyes widened. How could I have said that? I remembered Naruto telling me that these boys had been hurt and have a hard time trusting people. So my words must have meant everything to them.

"Of course not." I said as I reached out for his hand. He didn't respond so I got up and took his warms hands in my cold ones and lifted it up to under our chins. "I care about you a lot!" I felt embarrass just mentioning him. "I care about you and your brothers. Yeah at first, I hated you guys and you hated me, but we all learned to put aside our differences and learn to love and care about each other. That's what family is all about, loving each other unconditionally, right?"

Sai looked at me when an expression I couldn't read. He lowered our hands as he began to lead us back home. We continued to hold hands as we walked in comforting silence. I looked up to see the stars shining brightly above us. I didn't notice how cold it actually was as I began to get chills and goose bumps on my arms.

"Cold?" Sai asked as he began to take of his jacket.

"No, it's okay. We're almost home. I can handle it." I said. Sai didn't listen as he took of his jacket and placed it on my head.

"Hag, stop talking and put it on." He smirked at me as I sighed. There was no point arguing. I put on the jacket and noticed how warm I got instantly.

"Thanks…" I said quietly as I went to grab his hand again. He looked at me as he raised his eyebrow.

"What?" I asked.

"You like to hold my hand a lot." Sai smiled.

"Shut it!" I said hotly. I could feel my cheeks burn. Stupid cold air. He's going to think I'm blushing because of him. "My hands are cold and your hands are warm, it's as simple as that."

"Whatever you say ugly." Sai said as we continued our walk back hand and hand.

After fifteen minutes, we made it back to the house. We stopped before we went through the gate.

"Sai-kun?" I began to say.

"Hm?" He asked. I took a deep breath as I went on my tippy toes and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Thank you for coming to get me." I smiled as I quickly entered the house happily.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Sai continued to stay outside of the gate as he touched the place where Sakura had just kissed him. His entire face felt warm and his stomach felt all weird. He hadn't felt this way since Raiko. Damn… Sai squatted as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Damn it Sakura, what are you doing to me?" Sai asked as he slowly got back up and joined everyone inside.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

I slowly entered the house to see everyone were at the table talking. I suddenly felt nervous going back in. Maybe I can just sneak up into my room. I soon felt someone push me into the room, catching everyone's attention. I turned around to glare at Sai who walked in after me.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said getting up from his seat.

I blushed from all the attention as I looked at my feet as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Sakura-san, I apologize for my actions earlier. It was unforgivable." Itachi said getting up and bowing to me.

"I want to apologize as well. I took it too far." I said, still not being able to look at any of them. I heard the sound of a chair moving as someone lifted my face up. I looked to see Sasuke turn my head to the side as he examined the ugly bruise on my face.

"I-I didn't mean to…" Sasuke didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to. I could see the guilt in his eyes.

"It's okay." I smiled. "Let's finish the thanks. Um I think it was Sasuke-kun who was next." I said as everyone sat back down.

"I'm thankful for another chance of a family." Sasuke said quietly as he gave me a small smile.

"Holy crap! Teme just smiled! Hell is going to freeze over!" Naruto cried. I watched as Sasuke's smile quickly turned into a frown as he glared at everyone.

"I guess Sasuke only smiles for Sakura." Chouji commented. Soon everyone looked at me.

"What are you thankful for?" Tsunade asked me.

I looked at everyone's face and thought back about how my life was before. "I'm thankful for…" I took a pause as I thought about what I wanted to say. A smile appeared as I looked at the picture of Minato that was in the dining room. "I'm thankful for meeting Minato-san. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here in the first place."

The night went by without any more trouble as people helped me clean up. I had walked everyone out of the house as Ino handed me two tickets for Sai's birthday, which was two days from now.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru sighed. "Thanks for dinner." He said as he went to get ready for bed. The brothers followed after him as I went to the kitchen to put the dishes away.

"Does it still hurt?" I turned around to see Sai behind me.

"I barely feel it anymore." I said as I grabbed a couple plates and tried to place it in the cabinet. I couldn't reach it. I heard Sai sigh before he took the plates from my hands and placed it for me.

"Hey, you know what I just realized? We never got to hear what you're thankful for." I asked him as we finished the cleaning the dishes.

"You want to know what I'm thankful for?" Sai asked as he trapped me with his arms. His tall form was hovering over me. He smiled as our foreheads touched each other. "I'm thankful that I have you."

My eyes widened. The room suddenly felt hot as my heart was beating fast. I haven't felt this way since Omoi. Oh no! I was mentally panicking. I was falling for Sai, of all people! NO! NO! No! I soon felt something cold touch my cheek. It was a bag of frozen peas.

"Place that on your cheek Hag. It will help with the swelling." Sai smiled. "Have a good night." He soon began to walk away as I remembered the tickets Ino gave me.

"Wait!" I called out. Sai stopped walking as he looked over his shoulder. I took out a ticket as I tried to be cool about.

"It's your birthday coming up in two days. I heard this amusement park opened up and I wanted to check it out. Your birthday seemed like a good chance to go." I said as I stuck the ticket out. Sai walked up to me as he grabbed the ticket. Our fingers brushed as he took it from me with what seemed like a true smile.

"Thank you ugly." He smiled. "I can't wait."

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

I stared at the huge sign of the amusement park. I shouldn't have trusted Ino with this. There were pink, white, and red balloons decorated at the gates. A heart mascot passed by me. To my left were couples hugging and kissing in line. To my right were even more couples doing the same damn thing. WE WERE AT A COUPLE'S AMUSEMENT PARK!

I was wearing a white flowy top with a black jacket to cover it. I wore dark denim shorts and black high knee socks to match. Sai wore dark jeans with a black long-sleeved shirt. I looked up at Sai to see him have a calm look. If he was feeling awkward about this, he didn't show it. We entered the amusement park as we looked around. It was really big and everyone seemed to be way into their date.

"Sorry about this Sai-kun." I said embarrassed. "I didn't know that the amusement park was going to be like this."

"It's alright. Let's just make the best of this." He gave me a fake smile we began to walk around. "What do you want to do first?"

"It's your birthday, you decide." I said as I looked around. There was a couple making out heavily at the huge fountain. So much PDA, it was awkward.

"Let's eat first." Sai said as we walked to the food court. It was packed so we decided to look around. We ended up at a small light blue. It had a porch where people could eat outside.

"Aw, what a cute couple we have here." A lady with masculine features appeared in front of us. Don't tell me this guy was a trans. I looked at Sai, giving him a face that told him not to say anything rude. "Would you two like to eat inside or outside?"

"We're not a couple." I said waving my hands in front of me.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? Who would come to this amusement park if you weren't a couple?"

"Obviously us." I muttered under my breath. "Um, inside would be nice."

The lady quickly changed her/his mood. "Very well. My name is Mimi. Let me lead you to your table." We followed him to a table next to the large windows. The view was lovely as it was looking towards the forest. There seemed to be a piano next to the window was well. We sat down at the table and Mimi left us to choose what we wanted to eat.

"Ugly, was that woman a m-"I quickly kicked Sai in the shin.

"Zip it and order your food!" I said as I glared at him. I soon looked at the menu.

_Lover's steak- __**$11**_

_Romantic Fettuccini Alfredo- __**$10**__ with shrimp/chicken-__**$13**_

_Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti- __**$10**__-with meatball-__**$12**_

_Shrimp or Chicken Temura- __**$17**_

_Tofu Teriyaki (served with salad and miso soup)-__**$14**_

_Beef Teriyaki (served with salad and miso soup)-__**$ 14**_

_Momen Tofu-__**$5**_

_Mitarshi Dango-__**$4**_

_Umeboshi-__**$5**_

_Anmitsu-__**$6**_

_Anko dumplings-__**$5**_

"What would you like to order?" Sai asked looking up from his menu.

"I'd recommend Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti." A guy next to us said. "My girl and I just shared a kiss because the noodles we eat ended up being the same just like the movie."

"Oh, thanks for the suggestion." Sai said as he looked down at the menu. "Momen Tofu is my favorite."

"I like the last three." I said with a smile. "I don't like anything spicy. But we can have that as a side."

Sai nodded as he called Mimi back to get our orders. "We'd like to get one plate of Momen Tofu and Anko dumplings. We'd also like to get the Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti."

Mimi smiled as he brushed back his purple hair. "Alright dear. I'll get that ready for you two. Any drinks?"

We asked for water as Mimi wrote it down and left us. I sighed as I looked out the window. I felt the warm sun hit my skin as I embraced the warmth. I closed my eyes for a bit. A man had gone to the piano and was playing a pleasant song. **(A/N: My Answer by Seamo) **I opened my eyes to see Sai staring at me deeply.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Was there something on my face? Did the makeup I used to cover the bruise come off?

"Nothing." Sai said as he took looked outside the window. I noticed a light blush on his face. How cute, I thought with a smile.

We sat silently as we waited for our food to come. It soon came after a couple minutes as we concentrated on eating. The guy was still playing random songs on the piano. I watched as Sai started to eat the tofu. He must have noticed me staring because he moved the tofu to my face.

I looked at it confused.

"You were staring. You must have wanted some." Sai said. I blushed before opening my mouth. He placed it right on my tongue. "Do you like it?"

I nodded. I offered him a piece of my dumpling as well. I had to be honest with you. It felt like a date. I was never like this with Omoi! It made me wonder how far Sai was with his relationship with Raiko. She was stupid to have hurt a guy like him. We began to eat the spaghetti as I was caught up with my thoughts. Sai was busy watching the view out the window. Before I knew it, my head was moving closer to Sai's. Luckily, I realized what was going on and quickly bit the long noodle and pulled back.

I turned red. This was wrong. I couldn't have feelings for Sai. I just couldn't. Sai didn't say anything about my weird actions as he continued to eat. We finished and thanked Mimi and Sai went to pay, despite me telling him I'd pay. We soon walked around and played game at the stands while trying to digest our food. We didn't want to throw up on the rides, now did we? Sai had won me this giant size white rabbit with a light blue ribbon around its neck. It was close to sunset as we finished riding the big roller coasters. Wanting to relax for the rest of the day, we decided to ride on the Ferris wheel. It was really tall.

I believe we waited in line for like twenty minutes before going on our cart. I placed the rabbit on my side as Sai sat across from me.

"Did you have fun so far?" I asked him as the ride began to move.

"Ah, last time I've been to an amusement park was two years ago." Sai said quietly as he rested his elbow against the window with his chin on top of his fist. The sun was finally setting behind him as the stars were shining brightly against the dark sky.

"I'm glad you had fun…" I said a bit nervous. For what reason, I had no idea. As we finally made it to the top, the ride made a weird sound as it stopped abruptly. The cart swung as I fell towards Sai, who caught me. We both fell onto the floor as the cart rocked.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, what the heck is going on?" I asked.

"We're stuck." Sai gave me a fake smile. I pinched his cheeks.

"This is nothing to be smiling about!" I growled.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of stuff like this." Sai said, taking a serious tone now.

I said nothing as Sai sighed. I felt him grab me by the waist and pulled me onto his lap. I blushed at our position. I was practically straddling him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face onto the crook of his neck.

"I think I know a way to help you with this fear." Sai said after a few minutes. I felt his right hand slowly move up and down my left thigh as his left hand played with a few strands of my hair.

"Hm?" I asked looking up at him. Before I knew it, he kissed me. My eyes widened but I didn't move to stop him. To be honest, I didn't want him to. Giving into my temptations, I closed my eyes and kissed back. Sai responded by holding me closer to him as possible as he was begging for permission for the kiss to go even further. I opened my mouth as we battle for dominance. We've been dancing around this attraction between us for a while and it was about time we did something about it. I didn't regret it for the whole time we kissed. But just when I thought things would be perfect-

"Raiko…" I heard Sai murmur into my hair. My eyes widened as my throat felt dry. He was imagining I was his ex girlfriend.

**Bonus story:**

Gaara's love life

Gaara sighed as he picked up his order from MacDonald's.

_Why is my life like this?_

"Gaara, hurry up and gimme my shake. I'm hungry too, so go buy me something to eat." Tenten demanded as she flipped through her magazine.

"Tenten…just because we happened to run into each other on the street doesn't mean you can just go and sponge off me." Gaara frowned. Tenten gave him a look as Gaara sweat dropped. "Fine, eat mine for all I care."

"Consider it my consultation fee." Tenten smiled as she took the shake from Gaara's hand.

"I have nothing to consult to you about." Gaara said. Tenten opened her pink phone as she made a quick phone call.

"**Oh, hello Sakura? **Gaara just said he has something very important to tell you." Tenten smirked.

"Tenten!" Gaara growled.

"Just kidding. My phone's not even on." Tenten laughed.

"Oh…"Gaara said a bit disappointed. He wanted to hear Sakura's voice. An image of Sakura answering the phone cutely appeared in his mind. He began to drink his soda as Tenten frowned. Before Gaara knew it, she had squeezed his drink, causing him to choke.

"What the hell Tenten?" Gaara asked as he coughed.

"You just reached the top of Mt. Annoying-as-heck!" Tenten growled. "Your eternal moping is driving me crazy! At least have the balls to tell her you like her! Just tell her you like her and die your honorable death already! How long have you liked Sakura? It's been six years Gaara! Six fucking years and you haven't done shit. Look, it may be a little late in the game by now, but if it all ends without you even having the chance to face her…you'll regret it someday. Think about that."

Gaara's eyes widened. "Tenten…"

"See?" Tenten said picking up her magazine and flipping the page to the horoscopes. "It even says here in this magazine that for today, Capricorn men have the worst luck and are likely to have trouble with women. It's the perfect day to confess and get your heart broken."

Gaara frowned even more. "I was stupid for thinking you might make me feel better."

"What? So you think you might actually win against Sai, Sasuke, Neji, Deidara, Itachi, Kiba, Kakashi-sensei, Hikaru, Omoi, Shii-"

"Your advice is so true, it hurts…" Gaara actually felt like crying as Tenten continued to name guys who were after his best friend's heart.

**XxXxXxXxXx**

"Today is the day I will beat you!" Naruto shouted as he and Sasuke were fighting outside of the house. Again, Naruto had challenged Sasuke to see who could take out the garbage the fastest. Sakura sighed as she watched them.

Gaara had been walking around the corner deep in thought of his previous conversation with Tenten.

"Like to see you try, Dobe." Sasuke smirked.

"That's it pretty boy!" Naruto cried as he grabbed the heavy garbage bag and threw it at Sasuke. He easily dodged it as the bag hit Gaara directly on the face.

"GAARA!" Sakura cried.

_If those sons weren't around, would I actually stand a chance?_

Gaara woke up to see Sakura staring at him worriedly. He realized that he was inside her room.

"Oh, Gaara, you're awake!" Sakura smiled. "You're at my house. You walked right into a catfight between my daughters, got hit by a flying garbage bag, and passed out. I'm really sorry."

Gaara looked at Sakura like she was growing two heads. DAUGHTERS?

"Hn, He's just so slow he couldn't dodge hit, that's all." A feminine voice said. Gaara began to twitch as he saw a female version of Sasuke. She had a side ponytail and had boobs, but you could still tell it was Sasuke.

"Sasuke-chan!" Sakura scold her. "Come on, you promised you'd apologize!"

"The names are the same." Gaara whispered to himself.

"She's right!" Gaara felt like he was going to faint. Entering the room were female versions of Neji, Shino, Shikamaru, and Sai. Neji still had his long hair but was wearing makeup. Shino's hair was long and curly. Shikamaru had his hair in the same pony tail but with a ribbon to decorate it. Sai, on the other hand, still looked like a guy. Gaara immediately began to rub his eyes.

"Hmph, to apologize for my sister's actions, you can go on a date with her!" Naruto said coming into the room with the sluttiest outfit ever.

"No, it's okay." Gaara said quickly. Sasuke twitched as he grabbed Gaara by the collar.

"So I'm not good enough for you?" Sasuke asked. "Who can be better than me?"

Gaara shook his head. The person I like is…

"Sak-"

"Nope, Sakura is all mine!" Sai said coming and putting his arms around Sakura who was blushing.

"**You'll regret it someday. Think about it."**

Gaara's eyes snapped opened to see Sakura and Shino looking at him worried. An ice pillow was in Sakura's hands.

It was all just a dream.

"Sakura…" Gaara began to say.

"Oh god. You're awake, Gaara." Sakura smiled. Gaara's eyes widened. He had seen that smile before.

Oh. He remembered now. If he had to say how long he liked her, it probably started around then. That day, he came to visit Ino in the hospital after that terrible incident, he saw that she already had guest. It ended up being Sakura. He saw Sakura standing, staring into space, by Ino who was still sleeping. Ino opened her eyes after that. And Sakura smiled, like she was relieved. The tough girl who was always causing fear into people they fought. She seemed happy when she told him once that she didn't have a family, but Ino was the closest she had to it. When she did, he didn't feel sorry for her. And even when he saw Sakura's face, smiling like she'd finally gotten past her anxiety, he just…wished he could be by her side.

"Listen up, guys. You're going to apologize to Gaara, right?" She growled. Sai, Shino, and Shikamaru stood behind her smirking at their brothers' predicament. Neji sat behind Naruto and Sasuke who were sweating like crazy, afraid of what their mother would do to them. Neji had already yelled at them in another room.

"I'm really sorry Gaara!" Naruto cried as Sakura glared at him and Sasuke.

"S-Sorry." Sasuke muttered.

_And I'm sorry for having that dream._

"Well, I'm going home now. Temari must be worried by now." Gaara said as Sakura and Sai walked him to the door. "Sorry about all this."

"Wait Gaara! I'm worried about you. I'll take you h—"Sakura was stopped when Sai had grabbed her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her.

"Not you, ugly." Sai said. Sakura had blushed deeply as Gaara felt embarrassed.

"Teme, you should take responsibility and go with him." Naruto said pushing Sasuke towards him.

"The fuck? Why me?" Sasuke asked. "You're the one who threw that bag."

"No, I'm not into you." Gaara said.

"Excuse me?" Sasuke asked glaring at the red head.

"Must have hit my head really hard." Gaara said backing away.

"All the more reason to take him home Traitor." Sai said.

"I said I would!" Sakura pouted.

"No." The sons said.

"No, I'm completely fine." Gaara said as he finished putting on his shoes. "I can make it home by myself. Don't worry about me."

"Gaara?" Sakura called out as he looked back. "Will you really be okay?"

_Hey Tenten. Even I can tell…there's no point in going out for it. I'm sure all I can do now is have my heart broken. But there's a part of me…_

"Yeah. Thanks for your help." Gaara smiled with a bow. The brothers and Sakura waved goodbye as Gaara closed the door behind him.

…_That can really be glad that right now, these people are here by Sakura's side. That's why I…_

"That's why you what?" Tenten asked. Joining them today was his sister Temari who was listening to the story.

"That's why maybe I'm allowed to just like her if I want. I have no intention of causing trouble for Sakura." Gaara said with a light blush. When it comes to Sakura, she's the only one who could make him change his character.

"Boooring!" Tenten said. Temari smiled.

"Hey, I shouldn't be talking until you deal with your issue with Lee." Temari said with a smirk as Tenten blushed.

"Well, if you're okay with it, then whatever, I guess. It was stupid of me to worry, and go get me another shake." Tenten said hotly. "Oh well, It was worth a shot…"

"It's alright bro. There are other girls out there." Temari said ruffling his hair.

"Whatever, I'm out of here." Gaara said as he quickly got up, bumping into someone. Gaara looked down to see a girl with short brown hair and chocolate orbs.

"I'm sorry." She said with a quick bow. Temari and Tenten watched amused.

"I'm sorry as well." Gaara said. The girl looked up and smiled.

"My name is Matsuri by the way. Let me buy you another milkshake for the one you spilled." She said.

Gaara watched her leave to buy another one. Maybe there was another one out there for him.

**This is the longest bonus I wrote yet haha. Wanted to show Gaara a little love. This bonus was based on a chapter from 'Me and My Brothers. SO CUTE! Anyways, how was this chapter? How will Sakura react to Sai calling her Raiko? Find out next time. Please review everyone, it will make me very happy.**

**-Kumiko.**


	26. Alice In Wonderland Goes Wrong

**Hey everyone. I know i haven't updated recently. It's finals week for me. So I have been busy studying for those and since it's holiday season, that means work gets busier. But I've finally found time to update this story. I made it longer than usual to make up for not updating much. Hope you guys enjoy. Don't forget to review at the end. It will make me very happy.  
**

**Sakura Kiss**

How are you supposed to feel when the guy you're making out with says a different girl's name? Let me tell you. **I FEEL FUCKING STUPID! I WANT TO PUNCH THE SHIT OUT OF SOMETHING OR SOMEONE! I WANT TO CRY! I WANT TO SCREAM! I WANT TO…**

No.

Take a deep breath Sakura. Ignore Inner Sakura.

I'm going to be very mature about this. I knew I shouldn't have listened to the girls about me liking Sai. I was just confused. (Insert a force laugh) It just shows that the guy is still head over heels for the girl that broke his heart. I was probably just doing the same thing to get over Omoi. Yeah, that's it. I mean, how could I fall for Sai of all people? That's ludicrous! It's not like I'm hurting? What's there to be hurt about?

Okay, so denial is more than just a river in Egypt.

Like seriously! WHAT THE FUCK! Who the hell says a name different from the person you were making out with?

It was night time as Sai and I were taking the light rail back home. We were separated by a little girl with bright blue hair that was up in pig-tails and dark hazel eyes. She was continuously popping her gum loudly. Sai was silently drawing on his drawing pad. When did he have that on him? I could see him on the reflection of the window across from us. I, on the other hand, was pissed off. In fact, the younger group of boys that sat across from me gulped in fear as my green eyes flashed angrily at them.

I took a deep breath to cool down and thought back about how things went after Sai said Raiko's name.

My eyes widened as I pushed Sai away from me. I looked at my reflection in the window. I looked embarrassed and hurt. The ride had begun to move. Sai's eyes widened once he realized what he had just said. He didn't apologize nor did he mention it after we had gotten off the ride. We awkwardly walked to the light rail station and hadn't said a word to each other since.

And here we are now, still ignoring each other. Thirty minutes passed, it seemed like Sai and I were the only two people left on the light rail. That just made things more awkward. I definitely need to talk to the girls about this. Our stop wouldn't come until another twenty minutes. I sighed out loud as I tilted my head back against the cold window and closed my eyes. What else can go wrong?

I soon felt a harsh stop from the train as a loud screech was heard. Sai and I quickly covered our ears and eyes. We ended up falling out of our seats. The train came to a complete stop as the lights on the train flickered for a couple second before turning off completely. My eyes widened. It was total darkness. I could feel myself getting scared. There are three things I fear: Thunder, certain heights, and darkness.

Sorry to any riders on the train, we seem to be having technical difficulties. Please be patient as we try to get this light rail going again. Thank you.

The conductor calmed my nerves for a second, but I was still scared. My heart was beating very fast. Sai wasn't saying anything, which scared me. "S-Sai?" I called out as I stuck my hands in front of me. I was shaking with fear. It was the first time I spoke to him since that moment on the Ferris wheel.

"Are you okay ugly?" Sai asked. I headed towards the sound of his voice and held onto him.

"I'm fine." I said. I didn't want him to know I was afraid of the dark. "Are you okay?"

"I fell on my back when the train stopped. It hurts." Sai muttered. I placed a hand on his back and began to massage it.

"I'll check it out when we get home." I told him. He didn't say anything as silence entered between us once again.

An hour passed as I was beginning to get tired. I was starting to fall asleep. Right as my eyes closed, I swore I heard Sai say "I'm sorry".

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

When I woke up, I found myself being carried by Sai. We were walking out of the light rail station. Looking at the public clock nearby, it was around 10. It was cold and quiet. Sai adjusted me on his back as he quietly continued to walk home.

"Sai…" I muttered as I rested my head against his.

"You're awake." Sai commented.

"I can walk now." I said.

"It's okay. Holding you like this keeps me warm." Sai said. That sentence made my stomach flip as I could feel my cheeks warm up. I didn't argue as I just looked at the starry sky. We passed by Konoha Academy. That meant we were only twenty minutes away from home. I wonder if the boys were worried about us.

"Hey…" I spoke up. "About earlier…" I wanted to tell him how I felt about him. I wanted to tell him that I liked him. "Why did you kiss me?"

"…It meant nothing." Sai said. "It was the spur of the moment."

"Spur of the moment?" I repeated.

"You kind of reminded me of my ex-girlfriend. She was afraid of heights as well. When I took her to an amusement park, we went on a Ferris wheel and she acted like you. I'm sorry." Sai said.

"Drop me." I began to say.

Sai stopped walking and let me down. I growled as I slapped him hard across the face. "ASSHOLE!" I cried as I ran away. I didn't know where I was running to but I knew I had to get away from Sai. After a couple minutes of running, I realized I was at in unknown area.

"Damn it." I growled. I saw a bench next to a lamp post. I went and sat down there. No, I needed to get over Sai. This little crush had to go away. I soon heard a car pull up in front of me. It was a black Lexus with tinted windows. I watched as the passenger's window rolled down.

"Sakura-san?" A female voice called out. It was Konan.

"Konan –san!" I said surprised as I quickly stood up.

"What are you doing here so late by yourself?" She asked worried.

"I kind of don't want to talk about it." I mumbled. Konan parked her car.

"Why don't you stay at my place tonight? Something tells me you don't want to go home." Konan gave me a warm smile. I nodded as I got into the car. I thanked her as she began to drive. We ended up at this huge compound. It really fit Konan's personality. I forgot. Everyone I knew was freaking rich.

"Konan-sama! Welcome home!" A guard said at the gate. Another guy had gone and took the car somewhere as we got out.

"Thank you Leo. I have a guest for tonight. This is Sakura Haruno. You will treat her as you treat me." Konan said as she led me inside. I blushed when everyone began to bow to me. We made it to her room as she went to her closet to find me some clothes to wear.

"Here you go dear." Konan said.

"Thank you. Where did you come from when you found me?" I asked her.

"I was coming back from Pein's house. His family invited me for dinner."

"Congratulations on your engagement once again." I smiled. Konan let me change and we were now sitting on her large bed as she was teaching me how to make origami.

"So may I know why you were alone so late?" Konan asked as she finished one of a flower.

"Has Pein ever said another girl's name when you guys make out?" I asked.

Konan gave me a look of disgust. "No. He'd never. What idiot did this?"

I frowned as I told her everything that has been going on between me and Sai. I don't think Konan is the type to go and gossip about this. So I had a feeling my secret was safe with her.

"Is he stupid?" Konan asked me after my story.

"He's just still in love with his ex." I said sadly.

"Why don't you tell him how you feel?"

"I'm his mother and he's my son."

"So? After graduation, the contract is over and they're not your sons anymore." Konan pointed out.

"What do I do?" I said as I buried my face in my hands.

"Don't let him get to you." Konan said. "You don't do anything. Let him prove to you that he wants you. If not, there are other guys out there."

"Hah, yeah right. Who would like someone like me? I'm not as innocent as people think." I cried.

**I'm not pure anymore**

'_Don't ever think that you can go back to being innocent!'_

Karui's words from that night still rang in my head. I know that. I understand that.

"If a guy truly likes you or possibly loves you, he'll take everything about you, the good and the bad." Konan said as if she was talking from experience. "I'm not that perfect either. I have demons from the past and Pein knew that. He still loves me and that's all that matters." Konan said as she patted my hand. "Besides, Deidara and Itachi are interested in you if that makes you feel any better. I also believe someone close to you and I is in love with you as well."

I laughed. "Ino would feel weird if I went out with her cousin and Sasuke would feel betrayed."

We continued our girl talk before going to bed. Konan was going to drop me off at home the early in the morning since I had school the next day.

When I woke up the next day, it seemed like Konan had called someone to actually bring my stuff to her home. So I didn't have to face my sons yet. I wonder if they were worried. Checking my phone, I looked to see I had over fifty messages and phone calls from almost about everyone.

"Ah, you're awake. I had your brother come and pick up your stuff at the house last night. He said the boys were arguing so they didn't notice him coming in." Konan said as she brought in a tray of food. I thanked her as I quickly changed to my uniform. "He's actually in the guest room. He offered to take you to school."

After eating breakfast and getting ready, Konan led me to the front where Sasori was waiting for me.

"You had a lot of people freaked out." Sasori smirked.

"Sorry." I blushed. Sasori helped carry my bag as we went outside to the gates.

"Come on, I'll take you to school now." He said as he led me to a motorcycle.

"Thank you for having me over, Konan-san." I bowed.

"The pleasure is all mine. Have a fun day at school." Konan smiled as she bowed back. I smiled as I quickly gave her a hug. I can really look up to her as an older sister. She was just too cool.

"Thank you for watching over my sister." Sasori said as he nodded to Konan.

"Of course. I wouldn't want anything happening to your most important person." Konan smirked. I watched Sasori's eyes widen as a light blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Of course I'm his most important person. I'm his only sister after all." I pouted. Konan just continued to smile as Sasori gave me a helmet. As he helped me onto the motorcycle, he jumped on and drove off. We got to school in about 10 minutes.

"Thank you." I smiled as I gave Sasori a tight hug.

"Take care. Do you want me to pick you up later?" Sasori asked me. I shook my head.

"Nah. I need to face him some time right?" I gave him a brave smile before entering the school.

"Haruno!" A voice called out. I looked to see Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo heading towards me. With her hands on her hips, she gave me one of her deadliest glares. "Where the hell were you? I get a phone call in the middle of the night that you were missing! MISSING! What the hell did you do?"

I laughed sheepishly as I scratched the back of my head in a very Shikamaru way. "Sorry?"

Karin rolled her eyes. "Just get to class. Sasuke-kun and the others are worried sick about you." With that said she turned around and began to walk down the hall with her boys after her. She was so weird. I still couldn't tell whether or not she liked me. I headed to class only to be jumped by Naruto. He literally jumped onto me. His arms were around my neck as he wrapped his legs around my waist. I had to help support his weight with my right arm. Sheesh, this boy needed to lay off the ramen.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried. "You don't know how worried we were when Sai came home without you." I flinched at the name. I think Hinata noticed because she went and grabbed my hand and rubbed it with her thumb.

"This guy ended up calling everyone last night. We all went out to look for you only to get a phone call from Ino's cousin that you were at Konan's." Kiba said.

"What happened?" Shino asked worried. "Sai didn't do anything, did he?"

"What did he say?" I asked bitterly.

"That's the thing!" Naruto said as he laid back from his hold on me. "He didn't say anything. He just had this emotionless look and went straight to his room. We expected you come in after him but you didn't."

"Sasuke got mad and barged into his room. They stared arguing each other and almost threw punches if Shikamaru and Neji didn't stop them." Shino said. I frowned. I didn't expect Sasuke to do that for me.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused." I said quietly as I bowed.

Naruto frowned and hit me lightly on the head. "Just don't do this again. You can come to us, you know that Sakura-chan!" We hugged as I let him down back on his feet.

"Sakura-sama is so lucky!" One of the fan girls cried. "She gets to hug Naruto-sama!"

"Oi, Hinata-chan, wanna come eat with me during lunch later today?" Naruto asked. This soon got everyone's attention as the fan girls sent their glares towards the poor Hyuga heiress.

"S-Sure" she blushed prettily. I smiled as I mentally applauded Naruto for his effort. It was about time. Genma was talking about our final coming up next month in December and gave us a packet to review. As soon as class was over, I bid goodbye to Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba as Shino and I headed to Stats class. I meet up with Sasuke and Shikamaru who somewhat reacted the same way Naruto had. Shikamaru was telling me how troublesome I was and Sasuke was giving me glares. Remembering what Shino had told me, I hugged Sasuke tightly as he blushed.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked as he gently pushed me away from him.

"I heard what happened between you and Sai. I just want to say thank you for that." I said quietly as I brushed back a strand of my pink hair behind my ear.

"What did he do?" He asked me. I gave him a fake smile.

"We just got into an argument and he was being an ass." I said. "Nothing serious." If Sasuke didn't believe me, he didn't show it.

"Hn." He said as we went to our seats. Just like our previous class, Kurenai was going over what would be on our final. I tuned her out as I started to think about Sai once again.

"Haruno-san?" Kurenai called out in class.

I guess she had been calling my name and I haven't been answering because Shikamaru had elbowed my side to get my attention.

"Huh? Oh, yes?" I asked. The messenger walked up to me and handed me a letter.

"This is for your Sakura-sempai." The boy said with a blush as he bowed to me. I blushed as I took the letter from him.

"Ooh, Sakura-sama has gotten a love letter!" One of the girls squealed. I saw the boy begin to tremble with fear as he got up. He muttered an 'I'll be going now' and quickly left the room in hurry. I turned around to see Sasuke had been glaring at the boy.

"Sasuke!" I growled. "Why'd you scare him off for?"

"Hn. He was annoying." Sasuke said as he stared at the letter in my hand. I went and opened it. It wasn't a love letter as most of the girls in class wished it was. Instead, it was my next mother goal:

**Mother Goal #7:** Get Neji and his family back together

Going through classes, I was scolded by friends for making them worried. But I was happy to see that they cared. Sai and I didn't say a word to each other in English. I spent most of my time being lectured by Ino.

"What were you thinking?" Ino scowled.

"Sorry?" I said sheepishly. Ino was in her motherly/dictator mode.

"Sorry? My beauty sleep was interrupted because you decided to go run away in the middle of the night!" The class was watching our conversation with amusement.

"But you don't need beauty sleep Ino. You're already beautiful." I said, hoping that would get her off my back. With the way her frown turned into a smile and her eyes lit up, it looked like it worked.

"Aw Forehead-girl!" Ino said happily. Her happy expression quickly changed into that of anger. "THAT WON'T WORK ON ME!"

I pouted as I squatted to the ground and began to trace circles with my right index finger. I soon looked up at her as I gave her the infamous puppy-eye look. Ino sighed as she pulled me into a hug. "Will you tell me what happened?"

I nodded. "Yeah, later on our next girls night." Ino seemed happy with my answer as she left me alone after that. Kakashi soon appeared with his bad excuse.

"LIAR!" The class shouted. At that moment, I looked at Sai to see him lost in his drawing world. I saw him slowly move his head at my direction. I quickly looked away.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

It was lunch time as Hinata had gone to eat with Naruto. I decided to hang out with Ino and Karin for lunch today. As we were walking around, I soon heard a scream that sounded like Hinata's. I ran quickly to the sound of the scream to see Hinata being bullied near the pool. The bullies, I recognized, were big Naruto fan-girls.

"What makes you think you have a chance with Naruto-sama?" One of the girls said as they continued to push her near the pool. I was growing angry by the second. Hinata was afraid of water, or deep water to be exact. When we were younger, she had almost drowned and became traumatized since then.

"Bitches!" Karin growled.

"You were like that too." Ino said in a teasing matter.

Karin blushed as she pouted. "Shut it pig."

"We have to do something!" Ino said getting serious now.

"No." I said. "We wait."

"Wait? Are you stupid? Those bimbos can do something harmful to Hinata, and you want to wait?" Karin said frowning at me.

I looked back at Hinata to see her on her knees with the girls taunting her. "Have faith in Hinata. Let her prove why she's the best one for my son." I smiled. Ino and Karin looked at me surprised as we waited for Hinata to do something.

"Just because you're best friends with the newest member of the group and you're related to last year's president, you think you're better than us?" Another girl said as she pushed Hinata once more. Hinata had her head down as her hands curled into fists.

"Come on Hinata." I chanted to myself.

"Yes." That was her quiet reply. I smiled.

"What was that bitch?" The third girl asked.

"I said yes!" Hinata said slowly getting up. "I believe that I'm better than you. I'm perfect for Naruto-kun."

"Don't say his name so familiarly." The first girl growled as she went to slap Hinata in the face. Hinata quickly dodged it as she thrust her palms into the girl's stomach as she sent her flying.

"Y-You guys treat him like an object. He's a human being and he has feelings. You don't know what he's gone through. You don't know him at all!" Hinata cried. "I've been with him through his bad times and good times. I love every flaw of him. So that makes me the better woman."

"B-Bitch!" the second girl cried as she went to push Hinata into the pool.

"HINATA!" I shouted as I got up from my hiding place. Karin quickly dove into the pool after Hinata who was struggling to get up. Karin was the best swimmer in Konoha Academy. Ino went up to the girl that pushed Hinata and grabbed her hair. The other girls didn't do anything but look at me in shock of being caught by a member of the student council.

"S-Sakura-sama!" They said as they backed away from me. Karin appeared back on the surface with Hinata who was coughing out water. Ino pushed the girl she had by the hair into the pool as she helped Hinata out of the pool and covered her with a towel she had gotten in the storage room close by.

"What's going on here?" I asked as I got closer to the bullies. They quickly took a step back.

"S-She's taking Naruto away from us!" One of the girls said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Since when was Naruto yours? I didn't see your names on him. Hinata is right. You don't deserve Naruto. Sorry to put it, but Naruto has an important woman in his life and it's not you three. If I hear or see you guys bothering Hinata again. I'll make sure to deal with you personally." I said as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

The three girls gulped and ran away. I sighed. Shikamaru was right. Girls were so troublesome.

"T-Thank you…" Hinata said as she blushed.

"You've become stronger." I smiled.

"I thought you were with the idiot." Karin asked as we headed back to the main building of the school. "Why the hell would you go alone with a bunch of Naruto fan-girl bitches?"

Hinata was still trying to get use to Karin's blunt tone.

"I-I was with Naruto-kun when one of the girls said that Sasuke-san needed him so he told me to wait for him. The girls soon led me here." Hinata said sadly.

"Come on. Let's get you warmed up before you get sick." I said as we led her to the girls' locker room.

"Forehead-girl is right. You have the biggest part of the play in two days. Wouldn't want you to get sick, now would we?" Ino grinned.

I swear, I think we jinxed ourselves because at the night of the school festival…

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE SICK?" Anko screamed.

"I-I'm so-ACHOO-sorry." Hinata said. Her nose was red and stuffy. I paled at the fact that Hinata had gotten sick from a few days ago.

"Now what are we going to do! Our Alice is sick!" Anko cried.

"I'll step u-"Ami was cut off by Hinata.

"Anko-sensei! Sakura has been helping me with my lines for the past couple days. She knows them by heart." Hinata said as I looked at Hinata surprised. Anko looked at me, surprised as well.

"Pinky? Well what are you waiting for? Get ready for the play Alice!" Anko said giving me a shove to the dressing room.

I gulped. Why did I have a bad feeling about this?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"How youthful! Alice in Wonderland!" Lee shouted in his seat. He was sitting between Tenten, who was on his right, and Neji, who was on his left. The three were in the second row in the middle of the theater.

"Remember when we were on that stage doing Romeo and Juliet." Tenten grinned as she laughed at Neji's expression.

"Don't ever bring that up again." Neji growled. His cheeks were a slight pink, which caused Tenten to laugh even more.

"Is this seat taken?" A male voice asked. Tenten looked up to see Kankuro and Temari waving at her.

"Hey you guys! You made it!" Lee greeted. Neji just nodded his head at the siblings.

"Me missing Gaara act? Hell no!" Temari crackled.

"Indeed. It would be most excellent to see all the children act." A new voice said. Neji jumped a bit when he saw a video camera had suddenly appeared next to his face. Behind him were Shizune, Kakashi, Tsunade, and Jiraiya.

The lights in the room turned off as the spot light aimed at the stage. People began to cheer, especially the fan-girls of the Student Council.

"It seemed to have gotten worse than last year." Temari commented.

"Ah." Neji said shaking his head. He soon glared when a large group appeared and sat in front of him in the first row. It seemed like the largest member sat in front of him. He couldn't see.

"Excuse you!" Neji frowned.

"Oi, it's Sakura's son." Neji recognized the group as Akatsuki. The person in front of him was Kisame. Sakura's brother Sasori was sitting in front of Lee. He had a bouquet of flowers. Itachi was holding a video camera, ready to record. Deidara had his camera ready as well.

"Too bad Sakura isn't Alice, hn."

Pein and Konan sat quietly waiting for the play to start. Hidan had come with Tobi. Food was in their arms.

"Did this fucking play start yet?" Hidan asked.

"How much money did you spend?" Kakuzu asked.

"Don't trip." Hidan said offhandedly as he sat next to Konan. Zetsu had appeared out of nowhere and was sitting next to Sasori.

"Excuse me!" said a voice on stage. It was Anko. No one seemed to be listening as Anko grew pissed.

"QUIET MAGGOTS! DO NOT LET ME BRING GAI ON THIS STAGE!" she screamed. This caught everyone attention.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee cried.

"Shut up!" Tenten and Neji said forcing Lee back to his seat.

"Now that I have your attention, I would like to present to you the play Alice in Wonderland." Anko said as she walked off the stage.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

I sat down nervously next to a girl who was playing as Alice's older sister. A guy from class came up as the narrator. The scene was of a grass land near a riverbank. I was wearing a green bubble dress that reached to my upper thighs. I had a white lacy apron over it with white knee-high socks. I wore black mary janes with it.

"SAKURA-SAN! YOU LOOK SO YOUTHFUL!" I could hear Lee cheer for me. I didn't even do anything yet. I felt my cheeks heat up.

"**Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?'" **The guy began to say.

I peeked over at the book on cue. This was so embarrassing.

"Go Sakura, hn!" I heard Deidara shout. God, could they shut up and let us act.

**Suddenly a white rabbit with jade green eyes passed by her.**

At that, Gaara came slowly on stage. He glared at the audience. I let out a huge grin at how cute Gaara looked. He had a pair of white bunny ears. He was dressed up in a white long dress shirt and a beige vest. He wore black pants and shoes to match. He soon pulled out a watch from his pocket.

I could see Temari and Kankuro ready to crack up.

"Oh dear. Oh dear." Gaara said in a monotone voice. He looked like he'd rather kill someone than be a part of this play. I secretly gave him a thumb's up. "I'm really…sigh…really late." As he finished that sentence, Kankuro was already laughing his head off as Temari grabbed on to him.

"What is air?" Temari cried as she wiped a tear away.

"He sucks at acting!" Kankuro laughed.

Gaara turned as red as his hair as he glared at his siblings. He began to stomp off stage, but not before chucking his watch at Kankuro.

It was soon my cue to get up and follow Gaara off stage.

"Mr. Rabbit?" I called out as I too walked off stage. The scene soon changed as I went back on stage as Gaara and I went around the back to appear on the other side of the stage. The background had changed to a tree over the trap door of the stage.

"Mr. Rabbit!" I called out again as Gaara went to the trap door.

**Alice had followed the mysterious white rabbit to a tree where it went down a rabbit hole. Alice at the moment didn't even think of how she was going to get back up as she jumped after the rabbit.**

I braced myself as I jumped down the trap door that led to the back stage. People on stage began to change the scene as a couple would run across the stage with random objects such as chairs, clocks, etc. The spotlights turned off as I went back on stage and lay on the ground. I waited for the lights to go back on.

The spot light was back on me as I got up and said my next line.

"I'm surprised that didn't hurt. I wonder where Mr. Rabbit went." I spoke. Gaara soon came.

"I'm late! I'm late. I'm really really late!" Gaara ran across the stage as I chased after him. Ino soon appeared on stage in a beautiful white gown. Her hair was in curls.

"Alice has finally appeared. This war with my sister, the Queen of Hearts, will finally come to an end with me winning!" Ino grinned. "Tweedle Dee! Tweedle Dum!" She said sweetly. Kiba and Shino appeared in matching outfits.

"Yes your majesty?" They said in sync.

"The prize has finally appeared. We must convince her to join us. Make sure the White rabbit doesn't lead her to my sister or I fear we will cease to exist." Ino said.

"As you wish." Shino said as Kiba nodded. The two soon disappeared on stage.

"Just you wait sister dear. I will show you that I'm the better Queen." Ino said as she too walked off stage. A couple second later, Sai appeared on stage. He was wearing a black mid-drift that showed his abs with long black pants to go along with it. He also wore black cat ears. The moment he appeared on stage, the audience went wild! Well, more the fan-girls did. Flashes appeared non-stop. I looked at Sai worriedly as he seemed to be blinded by the flashes. Just because I was worried didn't mean I was still mad at Sai.

"Alice, you say?" Sai said with a fake smile. "Things seemed to have gotten interesting. I can't wait to meet her." The curtains closed as we changed scenes.

It was my turn again as I was walking around. It was scene with the caterpillar a.k.a. Shikamaru. He was sitting on a large mushroom with a fake hookah set next to him, well it better be fake!

**Alice had gotten lost from chasing after the White Rabbit and ended up meeting a caterpillar on a mushroom. Curious, she appeared in front of it as she got its attention.**

"Who are YOU?" Shikamaru asked as he sucked on the pipe and white smoke came out of his mouth. He purposely blew it at my face. I glared at him.

"Alice sir!" I said as I waved the smoke away from my face. Shikamaru grinned at me. He seemed to be having fun.

"You don't seem to be from around here."

"I'm not. I was following a rabbit and I seemed to have ended up here."

"I see. Tell me Alice, what is your purpose here?" Shikamaru asked lazily.

"To be honest, I have no idea. I just want to find my way. You see, I had gotten lost."

"And what do you want me to do about it?"

"Show me the way home."

"How troublesome. I cannot just show you. You have to find it on your own. You have a purpose."

"What purpose?"

"You have to find it on your own."

"You're no help." I said as I acted angrily.

"And you're a troublesome woman. Leave me be. Just follow the signs and that will take you to where you have to be." Shikamaru said as he signaled me to leave him. I glared as I walked away.

**Not getting any answers from the caterpillar, Alice had continued her journey down the road. She soon heard shouting and decided to check it out.**

The stage turned dark as props were moved. Soon Sasuke and Naruto appeared on stage with Kasumi. This was the tea party scene. Sasuke was sitting at the edge of the long table. He was wearing a black suit and top hat. He looked really handsome and I wasn't the only one to think that.

"SASUKE-SAMA! YOU'RE SOO HAWT!" Fangirls screamed.

"Shut up!" Temari shouted. I held back a giggle. I soon looked at Naruto. He had brown bunny ears and an orange suit on. He was sitting next to Sasuke. Kasumi was wearing a grey sleeveless leotard that only went to cover her boobs. Her usual afro was in braids. She had mouse ears. She was pouring Naruto and Sasuke tea.

"Um Hello!" I said staring the scene with my line.

"No room!" Naruto said, too excitedly.

"There is plenty of room!" I said as I went to take a seat.

"Who are you?" Naruto soon asked.

"I'm Alice. And you are?"

"I'm March Hare. This is Dormouse!" Naruto said pointing to Kasumi. "And this teme over here is Mad Hatter." He said pointing at Sasuke who glared at him.

"Dobe!" The audience laughed. I smiled. Even during a play, the two wouldn't stop insulting each other.

Sasuke soon turned to me and stared deeply into my eyes. "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

**`Come, we shall have some fun now!' thought Alice. `I'm glad they've begun asking riddles.-**

"I believe I can guess that." I added aloud.

"Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?" Naruto said.

"Exactly so." I answered

"Then you should say what you mean."

"I do." I hastily replied. "At least-at least I mean what I say-that's the same thing, you know."

"Not the same thing a bit!" Sasuke spoke. "You might just as well say that "I see what I eat" is the same thing as "I eat what I see"!"

"You might just as well say," Naruto added. "…that "I like what I get" is the same thing as "I get what I like"!"

"You might just as well say," Kasumi soon said, "that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!"

"Look. I just want to find a way back home." I said as I ran a hand through my hair.

"You're a foreigner?" Naruto asked me.

I nodded. "I guess you can say that."

"Well you chose a bad time to come here."

"And why is that?"

"The Queens are at war." Sasuke said calmly as he was sipping on his tea. "They're fighting for power."

"Wonderland is split into two. Teme's place is the only neutral one around here. You're either for the White Queen or the Queen of Hearts." Naruto explained further.

"And why aren't you choosing sides?" I asked Sasuke. He turned to me and gave me a smirk that caused the girls in the audience to squeal.

"How can I choose between my sisters?" Sasuke asked.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"What the fuck is this? This is nothing like the story we learned in elementary." Hidan complained.

"Calm down." Konan said. "They're making it more interesting."

"Tch." Hidan frowned.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"Why don't you stop them from fighting then?" I asked. "What are they fighting about anyways?"

"Those two grew up being spoiled. When our parents were alive, they had control of all the land. And when they died, they never told us who was going to take control next. I didn't care but those two began to fight for it. The only thing our parents left us with was a note that said the chosen one will solve everything. I'm beginning to believe you are the one who they were talking about."

"Me? I couldn't be." I said shaking my hands in front of me.

"You don't have to believe us." Naruto said. "Just be careful not to be alone with one of the sisters. They can be…very convincing."

"There's a way to stop this." A new voice said. I turned to see Sai appear next.

"Who are you?" I asked a bit pissed. Sai continued to give me a fake smile.

"I'm Cheshire Cat. And who are you…hag?" My eyes narrowed at Sai as Naruto gulped behind him.

"Alice." I growled.

"Ah. You're the one the Queens have been talking about. I must say, you should decide what your purpose is in this world soon before the Queens kill themselves." With that said, Sai soon left the stage.

"Asshole." I muttered under my breath. We soon went to change scenes, once more.

**A few days passed as the Queens were growing more impatient. They didn't know Alice was staying with their younger brother, the Mad Hatter. At that time, Alice was growing closer to the youngest sibling and the Cheshire Cat. So close, the Mad Hatter would joke about the one of the two males being in love with the girl. He just couldn't tell which guy Alice was falling for.  
**

"Have you decided what you are going to do, my dear Alice?" Sasuke asked me as he played with my hair. I was currently sitting on his lap. I wondered how Hinata was going to pull this off if she wasn't sick. I'd bet all my money in my little Gaara money bank that Naruto would have grown green with jealously. Just who the hell wrote this play?

"I have to stop your sisters from fighting. Like a truce." I said as I got into my thinking pose. "Cheshire Cat went to see if he could find a way to do that."

"Mad Hatter! Mad Hatter!" A female voice said. It was Ami as the Dutchess.

"What business do you have here? Shouldn't you be with my sister, the White Queen?" Sasuke asked.

"The Queen of Hearts declared a final battle with my Queen. It's going to end up as a massacre." Ami said as she clutched onto Sasuke. His arms was basically between her boobs. I rolled my eyes. Pathetic.

"Lead me to them." I said.

"Are you going to try to stop them?" Sai asked entering the scene.

"Yes. I cannot let two sisters kill each other. It's terrible." I said.

"You will only get yourself killed." Sai said as he got closer to me.

"You speak as if you cared about me." I said. This had a double meaning. I knew Sai knew what I was implying. Sai gave me a look I couldn't comprehend. It soon felt like it was just us two in the room. He had come up to me and cupped my face.

"Of course I care about you Alice." Sai said. "You're special to me."

"To me as well!" Sasuke said quickly grabbing me away from Sai. I soon heard Sasuke whisper to Sai. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"What are you doing?" Sai answered Sasuke's question with another.

"To all of us here in Wonderland." Naruto spoke up, breaking the tension between the two brothers.

Kasumi just glared at me. I glared back. Bitch.

"You guys are special to me as well. That's why I won't allow anything bad to happen to the people I care about." I said as I walked off stage. The scene changed once more as Ino and Karin appeared on stage with guards fighting each other. Suigetsu and Gaara were next to Karin as Shikamaru, Shino, and Kiba were next to Ino. Chouji laid dead on the ground.

**The two sisters were fighting as they lost a fair amount of people already. Alice was running as fast as she could to the battlefield.**

"It seems like Alice hasn't shown herself to either of us yet." Karin spoke.

"She will come and she will choose me as the rightful queen!" Ino snarled.

I ran on stage. "Stop fighting!" I shouted. The two looked at me viciously.

"Who are you?" Karin asked.

"Alice!" Shikamaru greeted.

"The chosen one!" Ino and Karin said in union.

"Have you come to choose me as Queen?" Karin asked.

"No." I said.

Ino grinned. "See sister dear. It is I who will rule these lands."

"Actually, I choose neither. You two down deserve the power to take over the wonderland. You will only use it for your own selfishness." I said. "You two are sisters! Why not share the power together?"

"Never!" Karin scoffed.

"If you will not give either of us the power…" Ino began to say as she stepped forward.

"Off with her head!" Karin ordered.

"No!" I screamed. "I will take away this power from both of you." I took the sword from Chouji's 'dead' body and stabbed myself. Ino went to stop me but it was too late. The audience gasped as fake blood squirted and stained Ino's white dress. I fell to my knees as I coughed off the fake blood.

"Alice!" Sasuke called out as he ran to me on the ground. He soon glared at the two queens. "Look what this war has caused. Innocent people have died."

"Brother…" Karin began to say. "We're sorry. You're in love with Alice, are you not?"

"Hn." Sasuke said as he cradled me in his hands.

"Mad Hatter…" I began to speak.

"Shh…it's okay." Sasuke spoke gently to me. Karin and everyone else step away from the spotlight as it was just me and Sasuke.

"It feels cold…" I said quietly.

"You're dying." Sasuke said simply.

"I see…" I said as I slowly went to close my eyes.

"Do you know why a raven is like a writing desk?" Sasuke soon asked me. I visibly shook my head.

"No, sadly I still don't." I said.

"Neither do I." Sasuke said.

I let out a small chuckle like it was said to do on the script. This was it. The moment the Mad Hatter was to kiss Alice back to life.

"Thank you for everything…" I said as I 'died'.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"Man, this is depressing." Tenten commented as she watched her best friend die on stage in Sasuke's arms.

Neji was frowning as Tenten noticed it.

"What?" Tenten asked.

"No Alice!" People in the audience cried.

"Uchiha is going to kiss Sakura-san." He growled. Lee, Sasori, and Deidara happened to have heard what Neji just said. Lee soon stood up.

"NO! I WON'T ALLOW IT!" Lee cried.

Tenten watched as Sasuke went to lower his head as the audience gasped. Before his lips could touch her friend's, Sai appeared.

"I shall be the one to revive Alice." Sai said.

"What the fuck is he doing?" Anko said from behind Tenten. "That wasn't in the script!"

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"I'm the one who loves Alice!" Sasuke said as he stood up with me still in his arms. I was mentally panicking. This wasn't in the script. Sai, just what are you thinking?

"But I'm the one who Alice loves!" Sai smirked.

"Are you challenging me Sai?" Sasuke asked, now forgetting that they were in a play.

"You said it. Not me." Sai spoke. "I won't allow you to kiss Sakura!"

"Why is that?" Sasuke asked. Ino went to break the brothers up.

"Hey, you two. You can argue about this another time. We have a play to perform." Ino said.

"Stay out of this." Sai and Sasuke said at the same time. Ino's eyes widened.

"WELL!" She said appalled. "You two did not just raise your voice at me!"

I opened my eyes as well.

"What are you two idiots doing?" I growled.

"I'll be the one to win Sakura's heart!" The two said in union as they both went to grab me. This had the whole theater silent as I turned red with embarrassment. Before I knew it, Sasuke went to punch Sai in the face as Sai dodged it. Sai soon went to kick Sasuke as he dodged it. They ended up rolling on the ground punching each other. I just stood there on the center of the stage, staring at the crowd. These two had just confessed their love for me. I knew something bad was going to happen, and this was it.

"Bwahahah!" I heard Hidan laugh. "Now this is what I call entertainment."

**Poor Sakura. She can never get a break haha. Sai and Sasuke has announced their love for Sakura. What will she do about it? Find out next time. Please review everyone.**

**-Love Kumiko**


	27. The Flower Versus The Bee

**I know I've been MIA for a while. But I'm not dead. College and work has been taking up most of my time and also because I've had a writer's block for some time. I honestly had to rewrite this chapter like four times until I was satisfied. Well I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please review at the end. Thank you.**

**Sakura Kiss**

"YOU IDIOTS!" The building shook violently. Everyone sat quietly with their backs straight against the chair as we stared at our pissed off principal, Tsunade.

No…

Pissed off doesn't even describe how angry she was. I swear I thought even Gaara was going to piss in his pants, and this was Gaara we were talking about. We were all in the theater, sitting down in the chairs, while Tsunade was on a platform yelling at us for our behavior earlier during the play. The audience had left just a few hours ago and Tsunade was still red in the face.

I mean, why should I get yelled at? It was Sai and Sasuke who started it. Speaking of which, I felt my cheeks burn. What idiot would confess their love during a play?

"THE BEHAVIOR YOU HAD SHOWN WAS UNACCEPTABLE! DO YOU KNOW HOW EMBARRASSING IT WAS TO HAVE TWO OF MY STUDENTS FIGHT ON STAGE DURING A SPECIAL DAY LIKE THIS? AND THE PRESIDENT AND THE VICE PRESIDENT NONETHELESS? YOU TWO HAVE BROUGHT SHAME TO OUR SCHOOL? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES?" Tsunade yelled.

Sai and Sasuke glared at each other as Shizune had finished treating their bruises and cuts. The two snapped their heads to the side and frowned. This pissed Tsunade off even more. I saw her eyebrow twitched.

"For your behavior, you two are suspended for two weeks!"

"Bwahahaha! Sucks for you two temes!" Naruto laughed out loud as he placed an arm around my shoulders. I sighed. I didn't want to face Sai and Sasuke at the moment. I just want to go home to my warm bed and hope that no one remembers what happened tonight.

**XxXxXxXxX**

I swear someone up there hates me a whole lot. No one forgot. Instead, the next day, the news had spread around the campus like wildfire. To make it worse, the school was split into two. It was the Sasuke fans versus the Sai fans.

"Sasuke-sama is the best one for Sakura-sempai!" A girl with orange hair tied down in braids shouted her opinion in the hall way.

"Are you crazy? It's all about Sai-sama!" Another girl with long brown hair cried.

"RAWR!" The two girls jumped at each other and began to fight. I frowned as I ran and grabbed each girl by the collar of their uniforms. I could tell they were first years.

"Sakura-sempai!" The girls said in surprise.

"What is going on here?" I asked with a glare.

"It seems like these two were fighting over who should be with you." A boy said. I remember him as Konohamaru. "

"Konohamaru-kun!" The red-head on my right said.

"It's true Moegi."

"I only want what's best for Sakura-neechan!" The girl on my left said. I realized I was holding Hinata's little sister up.

"Hanabi-chan?" My eyes widened. I didn't know she went here.

"Are you going to choose?" Hanabi asked.

I turned red with embarrassment. "Nothing is going on!" I stormed to first period where everyone looked at me.

"That was an interesting performance last night!" Genma said with a grin. Ooh, how I'd love to grab the toothpick from his mouth and stab him to death with it.

"Shut up." I growled as I went to Hinata who comforted me. Sai and Sasuke were stuck at home, which I hope wasn't in pieces. I wanted to stay home and make sure those two didn't fight again but then again, I didn't want to face them either. I was still embarrassed about it.

"Sakura-sama!" A girl in the class called out. I remembered her as Roxie.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I wish for you and Sai-sama!" She smiled. "That way, I can have Sasuke-sama to myself!"

"No! Sakura-sama is better off with Sasuke-sama!"

I sighed. Here we go again.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

A week went by and the talk about the student council love triangle finally died down. I could finally concentrate on my next goal. Help Neji and his family get back into good terms. That weekend, Hinata had invited me and Ino to come and sleepover at her place. Since Sasuke and Sai were out of school, and Shikamaru was too lazy, I had to pick up the slack for the council. I told them I'd be a little late.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Hinata and Ino were sitting down in Hinata's bedroom as they were waiting for Sakura to come over. Hiashi and Hanabi had left to do some errands leaving the girls alone in the house. The maids and butlers were busy doing their own thing.

"I still can't believe those two fought over Sakura on stage!" Ino grinned as she was painting her toe nails near the window.

"S-Sakura is still embarrassed about it." Hinata said as she was combing her hair.

"Well forehead girl needs a little love in her life. I mean, ever since Omoi and what happened to me, Sakura doesn't want to find happiness for herself. It wasn't her fault." Ino frowned.

Hinata's eyes widened. "That's right! I forgot! On Naruto-kun's birthday, we bumped into O-Omoi and Kauri!"

"WHAT?" Ino asked. "Why didn't you guys-"Ino stopped talking when the lights in the room turned off.

"A-A blackout?" Hinata asked.

Ino narrowed her eyes as she looked outside the window, she saw people moving. Hinata's house was about to get robbed. She signaled Hinata to call the cops. Hinata nodded as she went to her phone only to see that it was dead. Ino growled as she snuck Hinata and herself in the closet once she heard the windows breaking.

Ino quickly dialed her phone to call Sakura, but stopped when the door to Hinata's room was slammed open.

"No one is here boss!"

"Hell no. They're here somewhere. Maybe not here, but probably over there!" A deep voice said. Ino's eyes widened as she went to cover Hinata's mouth. The way that person talked was familiar, too familiar. Only one person would talk in sentences that rhymed with each other. That's when it clicked. The people that broke into the house were-

The closet opened as Hinata let out a scream when Ino was grabbed out of the closet.

"Well look at what we got here. It's been a while since we've last seen each other dear!"

"K-"Ino's eyes widened as he knocked her out from hitting the back of her neck.

"Ino!" Hinata cried.

"Grab the princess too. She's precious to the Shinigami as well. Have Omoi give her a phone call, Jei." A familiar red head said as she smirked at Hinata. "For this to go as planned, make sure no one but that traitor comes into the house."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"WAH! I'm finally done!" I said with tears of joy as I came home with Naruto, Shikamaru, and Shino trailing after me. We had just finished doing paper work and planning the winter field trip.

"I wonder if the house is destroyed…" Shino began to say.

"Let's hope not. That would be too troublesome." Shikamaru yawned. We put our shoes to the side as we noticed Neji coming in from the back. He must have been training in the dojo in the back again. The phone soon rang as Neji went to answer it from the kitchen. He nodded his head to acknowledge us before answering.

"Hello, Namikaze residents, Neji speaking." Neji spoke from the kitchen. I smiled as I went to the living room. Naruto and the others went to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

It was silent for a bit as Neji's usually calm expression turned dark.

"What have you done to them?" Neji growled as he banged his fist against the wall. This seemed to have caught the attention of Sai and Sasuke because they came out of their rooms. Worried, I picked up the other phone and quietly listened to a familiar voice speak.

"We have your cousin and friend held hostage!" My eyes widened that was Omoi's voice.

"Neji-niisan!" I heard Hinata's voice on the other line.

"Silence her!" Karui said as I heard Hinata cry in pain. I gritted my teeth.

"Nothing will happen to them as long as we get the money we wanted. You have three hours." Omoi hung up the phone as I did and ran to the kitchen. Neji continued to stare at the phone before hanging it up. It rang again as Neji answered it.

"What?" He spat. His eyes widened as the person on the other line said something.

"Uncle…" Neji growled.

I clicked the speakerphone button as Hiashi's voice was heard.

"Neji, my only nephew. I know you're still mad at the family, but we need you right now. Hinata and her blonde friend are held captive inside the mansion." Shikamaru's and Naruto's eyes widened.

"What?" Naruto shouted. Shikamaru glared at the phone.

"Am I on speaker?" Hiashi asked. Neji didn't answer. "Haruno-san, are you there? I know Inoichi and I haven't treated you well in the past. I have no right to ask you for help, but please. Hinata is really precious to me. I don't know what I would do without her. They took Hanabi as well. I'm locked up in an unknown place. I-I can't do anything for my family. I-I have to trust you with their lives. The people holding them, they're the people from the Lollipops and Red Scarves. You can do something because you were-"I quickly interrupted him.

"Hiashi, you know what happened that night and the promises I made to Inoichi and you. I promised that I wouldn't put Hinata's and Ino's life in danger ever again. I promised that I-"

"I don't care what the fuck I made you promise that night!" He shouted which startled me and Neji. Hiashi was never one to cuss. He was always so proper. Everyone else continued to stay quiet. "I was angry and wasn't thinking about what I said when I didn't know what you went through. I didn't know what you did for Hinata and the family that night. Hinata found out what I did and was angry for what I did and told me the truth. If you didn't do what you did that night, Inoichi wouldn't have only lost Ino, I would have lost Hinata, Hanabi, and my favorite nephew…"

My eyes widened when I remembered that night. It always seemed to come and bite me in the ass. Neji looked at me with eyes that asked what the hell his uncle was talking about.

"Did Inoichi know what happened?" I asked.

"About right now or the past?"

"Both."

"No. You know how hard-headed he is. He doesn't know the truth and thinks of you as a bad person like I did. But that was because I didn't open my eyes and didn't know the truth. I will forever be in your debt, especially for tonight. Please, Haruno-san, please save my family."

There was a long silence before I sighed. "I'll be there as fast as I can." I hung up the phone as I looked over at Neji. He had his back turned to me and was about to headed to the living room. He must have sensed me staring.

"What?" He asked me.

"Aren't you going to come with me?" I asked.

"No." Neji said as he began to walk to his room.

"Why the hell not?" I growled. Ino, Hinata, and Hanabi were in trouble and he didn't want to do anything to help. Shikamaru and Naruto seemed to look offended too.

"I don't care what happens to the Hyuga family. It's not my problem anymore." He snapped at me. I couldn't take it anymore and let him have it. He was sent flying as he hit his back against the wall. I jumped on him and sat on top of his lap. I soon began to slap him on the face.

"You don't care?" I began to say as I bowed my head so he couldn't see my face. I could hear someone make a move to help but stopped for some reason. It was then when I saw teardrops landing on Neji's face and he looked at me shocked, I was crying. My body was shaking. "It's not your problem?" I asked louder. I gripped onto his shirt. "As long as you're related to Hinata, you guys are family! A family should always be there for each other. A family means no one should be left behind or forgotten. You're lucky that you still have them. You should cherish them Neji. There are people in this household that would kill to have their family back with them. Mine was taken away from me, Neji. They didn't have the choice to leave me. They were ripped away from me when I was little. I don't remember what they were like anymore. I only have a picture of them. But you, Neji, still have them if you let them back in your life. They had the choice of whether to leave you or not. Hinata's been trying so hard to have you acknowledge her. You're like an older brother to her. No, you are her older brother. Hanabi looks up to you. Hiashi really cares about you."

"But he-"I interrupted him, knowing he was talking about that night when he saw his father and uncle.

"Did you ever stopped to wonder what would happen if you stayed? Have you ever listened to Hiashi's side of the story?"

"He killed my dad! What else is there to?" Neji snapped at me.

"There are always two sides to every story Neji. But have you believed the right one?" I asked him quietly. "If you and your brothers were in Hinata's predicament, I'd do whatever it took to save you. Though I'm not your mother biologically, we're good friends if not family."

Neji said nothing as I frowned and wiped my tears away furiously. I stood up and began to walk out the door.

"W-Where are you going Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked me. I glared at him before glaring at Neji who was still on the ground. He slowly looked from the spot where I once was to me.

"I'm going to save my important people!" I said with the slamming of the door. I made a run towards a certain café. I quickly flipped open my phone and made a phone call. When the person answered, I felt a familiar bloodlust run through my veins.

"Temari, gather Tenten and Gaara with the bikes. I'll be at the café in a couple minutes, meet me there."

"What's going on?" Temari asked me.

"He's holding Hinata and Ino hostage at the Hyuga compound."

"He?"

"Who else would hold a grudge against me for leaving the gang life like I did?" I asked bitterly. I heard Temari gasped before she began yelling at her brothers to get ready.

"We're on our way! Tenten should be at the café already with Lee." Temari said as I heard the sound of motorcycles in the background. I hung up the phone as I ran my way through people. After five blocks, I made it to Lee's café. But instead of entering the store, I was stopped by Lee.

"Lee?" I asked.

"They're in the back, ready for their captain." Lee smiled at me.

"You know?" I asked.

"Tenten is my best friend. Of course I'd know everything about her." Lee said. I mentally shook my head. You don't even know that she has the hugest crush on you.

"Thanks Lee." I smiled as I patted him on the shoulder before going to the back.

I saw Temari, Gaara, and Tenten on their motorcycles. Temari had a friend who dealt with motorcycles. After saving his life in the past, he gave us all motorcycles for the Red Scarves to keep. Kankuro walked up to me and helped me on my motorcycle.

"Go kick ass and save our little princesses." Kankuro smirked.

"Ah." I said as I saw Tenten hand me my red scarf with the sakura petals on them. Temari was wearing her red belt and Tenten was wearing her red ribbons around her buns. Gaara was holding his infamous crowbar. The blood of past victims was still on it.

"Ready when you are boss!" Tenten smirked.

"Let's go." I said as my bike purred and headed off towards the direction of the Hyuga compound.

When we finally got there, I could see gang members at every corner of the place. The four of us, were right next to the small little shrine Hinata had in the compound.

"He must be serious if he has this much people. What do you think he wants?" Tenten asked as she was examining all the possible entrances and exits.

"Sakura, of course." Gaara growled. "You've always been his favorite."

"Haruno-san?" A mumbled voice was heard.

"Hiashi-san?" I called out. It seemed to have been coming from the shrine. We saw that the doors were locked with chains.

"Move out of the way." Gaara said as he got up and broke the chains with the crowbar. We stopped to see if the noise had caught anyone's attention. It didn't.

"Thank you!" Hiashi said as he fell to his knees. He was beaten up. He had cuts and a black eye. His right wrist seemed to have been broken as well as a rib or two.

"Why would they do this?" Temari asked.

"T-They said I was somehow connected to the new leader of that damn Yakuza." Hiashi said as he spat out blood. "They've been trying to get to you as well. You're connected to him as well."

My mind went back to the day I found Naruto about to get beaten up by Yugito, Fuu, and Omoi.

**Flashback (Chapter 22)**

"_What are you doing here?" I asked him._

_"I could ask you the same question, Cherry." He smirked._

_"You have no right to call me that anymore." I narrowed my eyes at him._

_"But I do. I'm the one who gave you that nickname." He said as he got closer. I stepped away. He sighed. "Look, I'm not here to cause any trouble. The world of gangs changed since Gaara left. Whatever he told you is different now. Kabuto, the leader of the Oto Yakuza, is gaining in power. I heard there are actually two bosses now. The second leader is a mystery."_

_"Are the Lollipops joining forces with the rest of the gangs to over throw the Yakuza?" I asked._

_"Smart as always. I always loved that about you." He said. I rolled my eyes._

_"Then why did you guys beat up Naruto?" I was growing angry. "He's a former 9-tails member but he left that life!"_

_"He's connected to the new leader of the Yakuza." Omoi said. "He's a threat."_

**End Of flashback**

"They were saying that about Naruto too." I said out loud. The second boss, who was he and how was Naruto, Hinata's father, and I connected to him? "Hyuga-san, please don't enter the compound no matter what you hear or see. Do not get the cops involved. It might just make the problem worse." I got up and tied up my pink hair into a high ponytail.

"Sakura…" Hiashi began to say. I raised my hand up to stop him from talking.

"I promise you, I will get your daughters to you safe and sound. Now go to Minato's home. My sons should be there to protect you." I said as I turned to the other three.

"Temari and Tenten, I will need you guys as distractions. Gaara will go to find the girls and I-"

"You'll be joining me." Gaara said with a serious face. "I won't let you face him by yourself, especially since he caused all this for you."

"Gaara…" I said as I closed my eyes and smiled. "Alright, let's go."

"I hope you guys need help with the distractions." A voice said that made us freeze in our spots. We soon sighed with relief as I saw it was Fuu and Yugito.

"You came to save your friends." Yugito said it as if it was a statement and not a question.

I nodded. "They're locked up in the master bedroom. He's trying to get information about Naruto and you." She told me.

"Why are you helping us?" Temari asked protectively.

"Just because you guys left the gang doesn't mean I have to be a bitch to you four." Yugito smirked. "Besides, Sakura will always be my second-in-command no matter what."

"Sempai…" I said as I smiled at her.

"And she will always be the leader of the Red Scarves!" Fuu grinned. "Is Naruto coming?"

I shook my head. "Less people the better. Hiashi, make your escape now." He nodded as he quietly left for my house.

"Sakura-sama, I know it's been a while, but can you say your catchphrase?" Fuu asked sheepishly. I gave her a look of confusion as she blushed. "It kinda always inspires me when I hear you say it."

I looked at Temari, Tenten, and Yugito to see they had the same expressions.

"Pathetic." Gaara grumbled as he rolled his eyes.

I sighed as I placed a hand on my waist and pushed back some of my pink bangs away from my face.

"Shannaro."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Gaara and I made it to the second floor of the compound. We had gone separate ways in order to cover more ground. I made a sharp left and had bumped into something hard. I looked up to see a bald man with dark skin. He had shades on. It was then I smirked as I backed away from the familiar guy.

"Sakura?" The man spoke.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it Jei?" I asked. "You either tell me where the girls are or we fight here." Jei quickly raised both his hands and dropped the iron bar from his hands. It made a large clink as it made contact with the ground.

"You know I'd never do something stupid and go against you. You are known as the Shinigami after all. I'll follow you know matter what." Jei smiled as he spread his arms out for a hug. I smiled as I hugged him. "I missed you."

"You know that's only when **she** comes out. When I'm me, I'm known as the deadly cherry blossom." I said. "And I miss you too. So you're really going to help me?"

"Of course. I've always been loyal to you Sakura-sama, even when we were in different gangs. You were Omoi's girl. No one messed with you."

"That didn't stop Shii or Darui." I smirked.

"Let's go." Jei said as he grabbed my wrist and led me to a room where the girls were supposedly held at. I looked to see Gaara had made his way here as well.

"Gaara is here too? Who else is here?" Jei asked.

"None of your business." Gaara said. "Is he with or against us?"

"With us." I said. Gaara glared at Jei a bit more before nodding.

"I'll stay guard. Get the girls out of here." Jei said. I stared at him for a bit as Gaara went in first.

"Thanks Jei."

"No problem. Go now, before trouble comes and finds us." He said as he fixed his glasses. I gave him a peck on the cheek before entering the room. When I entered the room, I barely dodged a kunai that was aimed for my head. Looking in front of me was Ino, Hinata, and Hanabi guarded by two familiar faces. Gaara was fighting Shii who attacked first.

"Look who came to bless us with her presence!" one of the two said. She was the one who threw the kunai at me.

"Kin." I acknowledge the girl that spoke. I soon looked at the girl next to her. "Tayaya."

Tayaya smirked. "These are the girls you left us for?" She asked as she grabbed Ino by the hair.

"That hurt bitch! Watch the hair!" Ino screeched as she glared at Tayaya.

"You're in no position to order me, Barbie." Tayaya said back.

"Who is the second leader of the Yakuza?" Kin asked me.

"I don't know." I said.

"Boss!" Karui shouted as she entered the room. "She's here!"

"I'm in da midst o'my rhymez, y'all iz bustin' in on my time…an' now I gotta spit my line, foolz, ya foolz!" A familiar voice said.

Gaara and I sweat dropped when the eighth member of the 9-tails and the leader of the Lollipops entered the room.

"Killer Bee…" I growled.

"Well, Well, Well, if it isn't the Shinigami." Killer Bee smirked as he threw a sign up in the air.

"Even after all these years, you're still annoying." I said as I glared at him. "Let the girls go. I'm the one you want, right?"

Before Killer Bee could answer, the doors to this room were destroyed as someone was sent flying.

"U-ZU-MA-KI REDAN!"

"Hinata-sama! Hanabi-sama!" My eyes widened when Neji and Naruto ran into the room.

"N-Neji-niisan!" Hanabi cried out.

"N-Naruto, Neji, what are you doing here?" I asked.

Neji's cheeks were dusted with a light pink as he glared at the people who dared to do this to his family. "I'm here to save my important people." My eyes widened before I smiled proudly at Neji.

Killer Bee soon began to chuckle. "Sorry to ruin this family moment, but I'd really like to fight you Sakura. I'm still a bit ticked off that you left without a word to me. You even took one of my best men." He said looking at Gaara. Gaara stepped up and put me behind him.

"I don't think so." Gaara said.

"You have no say in this Gaa-kun." Karui said as she pulled a knife close to Hanabi's neck.

"Karui." Killer Bee warned. "This is between the Bee and the Flower." He soon put his attention back to Gaara. "Don't underestimate me. I may fly like a butterfly but I sting like a bee."

I stepped up and pulled out a sword from my back, courtesy of Tenten.

"Well I'll be. Is that the Weapon Mistress' infamous Chinese sword?" He asked me.

"Ah. It was a gift." I replied. "Gaara, get Ino and the others out of here and don't come back."

"Sakura-chan, are you crazy? That's Killer Bee we're talking about!" Naruto said.

"Yo! Yo! Yo! What's up, Naruto!" Killer Bee grinned as he pulled out two of his swords. Naruto frowned at him. "Hostile I see. Well it doesn't matter to me. Karui, tell everyone to evacuate the building. Shit is about to go down, Wheeeee!" I was surprised when he dashed towards me. I did a backflip to dodge it as my sword met with two of his.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out.

"What are you still doing here? I said leave!" I shouted. No one moved, which pissed me off more. "NOW!"

"Just do what she says." A calm voice said. Everyone looked to see Omoi coming in as he untied Ino and the others. "It's just going to be complicated if you guys a-"He was interrupted as Ino had falcon-punched him.

"Ino!" Naruto yelled to stop her.

"You bastard. I hate you!" Ino screamed. "You have years of pain coming to you!" Neji moved to grab Hinata and Hanabi as Naruto quickly grabbed Ino and ran out of the room. Karui, Kin, and Tayaya moved to help Omoi.

"Sakura, if you don't get out of the mansion in 15 minutes, I'm coming back to get you." Gaara said as he left the room to find Temari and Tenten. "Don't break your promise!" I nodded my head knowing what he was talking about.

"I'll take it easy." I smiled.

"Go after them!" Karui ordered as they left the room as well.

"Let's make things more interesting." Killer Bee said as he grabbed something behind him. My eyes widened as I recognized it as oil. To make it worse, he began to run around the room, spilling it everywhere on the wooden floor. He was trapping us in the room. With a finishing touch, he lit the large room on fire. "Who will win this battle?"

I continued to glare at him as heat erupted in the room.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Neji and the others finally made it to the front of the mansion while there were cops surrounding the area. The gang members left immediately except for Fuu, Yugito, Omoi, Jei, and Karui.

"Hanabi! Hinata!" Hiashi called out. The girls looked up as they ran to their father. "Oh thank god." Hiashi soon looked up at Neji who stared at the three awkwardly. Surprisingly, Hiashi stuck his arm out waiting for Neji to come to him.

Cautiously, Neji walked over to him and tensed up when Hiashi began to pat his head affectionately. "Thank you Neji."

Hanabi wiggled her way out of her father's hug as she went to hug her cousin. "Please don't hate me anymore." She sniffled. Neji was speechless. Naruto, Ino, Tenten, Temari, and Gaara smiled from the sidelines.

"Oi!" A voice called out. Everyone looked to see Shikamaru running towards them when Inoichi.

"Ino!" Inoichi said as he ran to his daughter. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine dad. Sakura saved me." She said waiting for her father's reaction to Sakura's name.

"…Where is she? I told you bad things will happen to you when you continue to associate yourself with filth like her." Inoichi growled. Hiashi opened his mouth to defend Sakura when Hinata soon gasped as she stared at the mansion.

"Hinata-chan, what's wrong?" Naruto asked. Hinata couldn't speak. All she could do was stared at her home that erupted in flames.

"Sakura!" Everyone shouted in a panic. The cops began to call the firefighters.

"Sakura!" Ino cried out as she began to head towards the compound. Shikamaru quickly grabbed her.

"Ino, stop!" Shikamaru ordered.

"Sakura could be hurt!" She cried. Shikamaru frowned as he looked over to his brothers who were staring at the house in worry.

"Stay here." Shikamaru demanded as he began to run towards the compound. Neji and Naruto began to follow him.

"Hey you kids! Stop!" One of the cops said trying to stop him, but Neji pushed him to the side. Gaara and Temari began to move as well but were stopped by Hiashi.

"Let the sons go and save their mother." Was all Hiashi said.

"Whatever you do, make sure she doesn't spill blood!" Gaara warned the brothers.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

I quickly dodged a fist as I duck and went to kick him off his feet. Our swords have been embedded to the ceiling. KillerBee was quick as he grabbed me by the shirt and tossed me to a wall. I hit my back hard as I coughed from the fumes in the room. It was getting suffocating in here as I continued to cough. My eyes were watering. I wondered if Ino and the others made it out safely.

"You've changed." Killerbee said to me as he slowly made his way to me. How he could stand the smoke was beyond me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I slowly got up.

"Didn't you always want to fight me back in the day?" He asked. "You were feared by many yet respected by all." I frowned as I rubbed my eyes. I didn't know where he was going with this. "You were first a girl picked up by Yugito. Someone I didn't think would have much of a talent coming from a rich family as you. Yet you surprised me with that look of determination with pain and suffering. You raised high in status and even beat that of your Yugito-sempai. You became the youngest gang leader of all my years as a gang member. You became known as the Deadly Cherry Blossom. But you became my favorite when she showed. When the Shinigami showed…" He soon looked at me hard in the eyes. "Now, there's no fire behind you when you fight."

"Wow, you didn't rap for once." I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes. "I'm done with the gang life. I told that to Karui and Samui."

"Yet you want to come back. I know it was you that infiltrated Kabuto's house that night." Killerbee smirked. "His reaction to it was out of sight, yo! You cannot leave the past behind. It will always be with you. You're not innocent anymore. I heard you snatched up a rich guy and gotten sons. Do they know who you are? Who you really are?" My eyes widened when I noticed Neji, Shikamaru, and Naruto entering the room.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled as he ran into the room. He had kicked the door in the process. With the support of the house weakening, I watched him look at me worriedly and then looked up at the ceiling. A loud crack was heard as I saw ceiling was about to crash on top of Killerbee.

"Watch out!" I shouted as I ran and pushed him out of the way.

The way his body tensed under my hands showed that he was surprised. He crashed towards Naruto who was on his way to help his old friend.

I felt a large hot piece of wood hit me as I fell to the ground hard. I let out an agonizing scream due to the flames on my skin. I could hear footsteps running up to me.

"Sakura!" It was Shikamaru who screamed my name in terror. He was quickly removed the wood before it could do any serious damage and began patting me with something cold.

"We need to get them out of here." Neji said. My vision was getting blurry but I could see and feel Neji carry me in his arms. I winced due to the burns I had just received. I felt him begin to run again. I knew we were out of the compound when I was met with the cold crisp air.

"N-Neji…" I began to say. I heard the girls gasp as the ambulance was nearby.

"It's okay Sakura. You're safe now." Neji said comforting me. I shook my head.

"I-I'm sorry…" I cried. "I'm sorry…I yelled at you."

"…I'm sorry too Sakura. Just stay with me. The ambulance is almost here. Just stay awake." He told me. I couldn't. I slowly began to close my eyes but I tried to fight it. "Stay with me." I could hear him say again. He began to get even more blurry. My eye-lids felt heavy as I completely fell into darkness.

**Yes, more of Sakura's past has been revealed. This is the first time using the Kumo ninja in my story so I don't know how they really act in the show, so bear with me please. Anyways, how was that? Please review everyone.**

**-Kumiko**


	28. How I Met Your Mother

**I know everyone's wondering what happened to Sakura after the fire. Well here we go. Just a warning ahead of time, I'm not really sure how the Kumo ninja actually act, so this is the basics. Killerbee is kinda hard for me to write with him rapping all the time, so i let him talk properly in my story, with a bit of rapping here and there. Enjoy and don't forget to review at the end.**

**Sakura Kiss**

"Sakura!" Ino cried out as she ran to Neji and Sakura. She noticed that Sakura's skin was bright red and was covered with ashes. Naruto and Shikamaru followed after helping Killerbee.

"I'm good, yo." Killerbee said as he shrugged the boys off him. He soon looked at Sakura. "Tsk. She shouldn't have done that."

"How dare you say that?" Naruto growled as he punched him in the face. He quickly grabbed his shirt. "She pushed you out of the way of danger! What happened to the sempai I respected?" Naruto said in a volume only the two could hear.

"Shut up. You don't think I've known that." Killerbee said. "She shouldn't have done that. It makes me feel guilty for beating her up in the first place. She was like a little sister to me. She was a better gang member than you and I put together. You did know that she's the infamous leader of the Red Scarves, right?"

Naruto nodded as the ambulance finally arrived and prepared to help Sakura. One of them was scared to help Killerbee. He shook his head indicating he didn't need to go to the hospital. He quickly got up, dusted himself, and began to walk away. Karui, Fuu, and Yugito quickly followed after him. Omoi stayed back for a bit as he walked with the guy that had Sakura on the stretcher. Ino, Tenten, Temari, Hinata, and Gaara glared from the sidelines.

"You have no right to be here." Gaara snapped. Temari quickly got a grip of her brother.

"Gaara, don't. He's not worth it right now." Temari said with venom in her voice. Her eyes were sharp as she glared at Omoi. "The thing we need to worry about right now is Sakura." Her eyes grew soft as she stared at the ambulance that carried her best friend away.

"P-Please leave right now." Hinata asked politely while looking at her hands.

Omoi seemed to have gotten the message as he sighed and pulled out a lollipop. Placing it in his mouth, he began to walk away. "At least tell me how she's doing later."

"Why would we do such a thing?" Ino screeched. "Don't you eve-"Tenten quickly covered Ino's mouth with her hand as she shook her head.

"Alright." Tenten said, shocking everyone except Shikamaru, Naruto, and Neji.

"Thanks…" Omoi said with an indifferent look. With that, Omoi went to catch up with his gang. When he was out of hearing range, the gang chose to share their thoughts with Tenten.

"What the hell Tenten?" Gaara asked angrily.

"Why would you say that to the bastard?" Temari added.

"I-I hate him!" Hinata frowned.

Ino was muttering colorful words under her breath. Tenten sighed as she placed her left hand on her hip. "He showed me he was truly worried for her." Tenten said.

"Um, excuse me." Naruto began to say. "Why do you guys hate Omoi?"

Gaara remembering that Naruto was in the gang scene once chose to stand quietly as he looked at the girls to see if they were going to say something. They weren't.

"Omoi was Sakura's ex-boyfriend." Gaara said as he brushed his fingers through his red hair. "We trusted him with her and he hurt her. Since then we hated him."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at this new information. Neji, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes at the walking silhouette when he heard that Omoi hurt his mother.

"How did she end up with someone like that guy?" Neji asked.

"Let's go to the hospital to check up on Sakura-chan." Naruto said, changing the subject. "Ino, find a way to contact Sasori. I'll contact the others at home."

"I'll inform Shizune and Kakashi." Shikamaru said.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Sai couldn't wait to get to Sakura's recovering room. The moment Naruto had called their house and informed them of their mother's condition, you could say he had a heart-attack. Just what the hell happened earlier? Sasuke and Shino were quickly following after him. The three quickly dodged nurses that were telling him to stop running in the halls. When they finally made it to the room, they frowned. Naruto, Shikamaru, and Neji looked from their seats as the remaining sons entered the room.

Sakura was resting on the bed. Sai took in the first degree burns on her arms. They were bright red against her creamy skin. There were bruises here and there and a large cut under her left eye.

"How did this happen?" A voice asked. The sons turned to see Kakashi entering the room with a worried Shizune.

"Poor Sakura…" Shizune frowned as she went up to Sakura and brushed away from of her bangs from her face. Sakura still made no movement.

"She hasn't awakened up since I saved her from the fire." Neji said as he looked back down at his hands.

"Well, she did go up against the leader of the Lollipops." Ino said entering the room with a bouquet of flowers. Hinata, Tenten, Temari, Gaara, Chouji, and Lee followed after with even more bouquets. Everyone was silent as they watched Ino go up to Sakura and gave her a truly worried look.

"What is Sakura's connection to him?" Sasuke asked.

"She was part of a gang…just like I was." Naruto spoke up. Everyone was silent as they waited for Naruto to continue. "Like you guys know, us brothers didn't have a good childhood. I fell into the darkness and joined the 9-tails and became famously known as the Kyuubi. Gaara was a member too and was known as Shukaku. Killer Bee was one of the oldest members there and was known as Hachibi. Fuu back there was known as Shichibi and Yugito was known as Nibi. There were four more members but we disbanded due to a power struggle. We were soon on our own. Killerbee created his own gang called the Lollipops and Gaara joined him. Yugito helped create The Ladies and Fuu joined right when it was established. I left the gang life for an important person." Naruto said looking at Hinata, who blushed. "Roushi, known as Yonbi, died of old age and Han, known as Gobi, had settled down with family."

"Utakata was Rokubi and hasn't been seen in a while. I don't know if he's still in the gang scene or not. Same with Yagura, who was called Sanbi, I haven't heard from him either." Gaara said with a frown. "Sakura is connected to this because she is the only person who has ever been recruited by the Ladies' second leader, Yugito. She became second-in-command in a few months. She was only 11 at that time. She was the one who saved me that night when I left the 9-Tails."

"What happened to the first leader?" Neji asked.

"No one was sure." Temari spoke up. "Rumor had it Sakura and the leader battled for her to become second-in-command and Sakura won. The original leader wasn't seen since. It was said Sakura killed her and that gave her the reputation as the Shinigami since she came back from the battle covered in blood. She was offered the position of first leader. She declined it and gave the position to Yugito and started the Red Scarves. Killerbee heard about her and became his favorite when he saw her take on a whole gang by herself. He treated her like his sister."

"A whole gang?" Shino asked. "That's impossible."

"That's why she was known as the Deadly Cherry Blossom/Shinigami. She can kill people easily." Tenten said as she watched Ino pat Sakura's head motherly.

"You seem to very close to Sakura." Kakashi commented as he watched Ino's gesture.

Ino gave a sad smile. "Of course. All of us are. If it wasn't for her, I'd have killed myself already." At this statement, everyone's eyes widened as Shikamaru looked at Ino in confusion.

"Heh." Ino began to say as she closed her eyes. "I first met Sakura when we were in elementary school. She used to get picked on by Ami and the others because her hair was pink and she had a large forehead back then."

"Is that why you call her forehead-girl?" Naruto asked. Ino cracked a mini smile.

"I hated Ami as it was and seeing her pick on Sakura was pissing me off. So I dumped ants in her pants as I told them to leave Sakura alone." Ino closed her eyes trying to remember.

**Flashback**

"_Look at her. She's a freak. Who the hell has pink hair?" Ami sneered as she pushed Sakura to the ground._

"_She's ugly." Another girl laughed. Soon the whole group laughed as Sakura brought her hands to her face and began to cry. _

"_She's beautiful!" Ino came in with something behind her back._

"_It's Ino-chan." One of the girls said. Ino smirked as she went up to Ami and dumped what was in her hand into Ami's pants. Her purple eyes widened when she realized that Ino had dumped ants on her. Ami let out a screech as she ran to the teacher. Her friends followed after her. It was soon quiet as Ino could hear Sakura trying to stop crying._

"_How long has this been going on?" Ino asked as she crouched down next to Sakura. Sakura said nothing. "Hey aren't you the girl they're always teasing because you have such a big forehead?" _

_"W-Who are you?" Sakura finally spoke._

_"Who me? That's easy, I'm Ino Yamanaka. Who are you?" the blond girl asked._

_"My name is…Sakura…" the girl muttered as she began to hiccup._

_"Huh? Hello! I can't hear you. Let's try that again okay? Who are you?"_

_"My name is Sakura!" the girl shouted. _

_"That's better" Ino grinned as she poked the girl's forehead. "So this is the famous forehead, huh? Whoa, it is kind of big, so that's why you hide it with your bangs?"_

_Little Sakura began to cry as Ino moved her bangs away. "Well, that's dumb! That just makes it worse. It makes you look like a sheep dog. Sakura, huh?" Ino dug into her backpack to take out a red ribbon. She began to fix it into Sakura's hair. "There see? What an improvement! You look a lot better. You can keep the ribbon"_

_"Oh…um thanks" Sakura began to say. "But…"_

_"But what?" Ino asked._

_"But my forehead!" Sakura blushed._

_"I'm telling you!" Ino said pointing a finger up. "The more you try to hide it, the bigger of a deal you make it. Your face isn't even that bad. It's a cute face! You just got to be more confident."_

"_T-Thank you…" Sakura said softly. "Does this mean we're friends?"_

_Ino's eyes widened before she grinned. "We're the best of friends."_

"We hung out for a month until Sakura had suddenly withdrawn from the school without a word. Rumor had it that her parents had died and she and her brother had to go away. I was sad about it but I had Shikamaru, Chouji, and Haru to cheer me up. But then…"

_Ino's eyes widened when Shikamaru had ripped the marriage papers in front of her and their parents._

"_I won't marry Ino. It's too troublesome." Shikamaru said as he walked away from the room._

"_Hey! Shikamaru!" Yushino called out from her seat. "I'm sorry about my son's actions."_

_Ino held in her tears. Shikamaru didn't want her. He didn't want her. Was she not pretty enough?_

"I began to worry about my looks even more to the point where I became anorexic. I wouldn't eat much and if I did, I'd only throw it all up at the end. I soon couldn't take it anymore. My parents were fighting a lot at home as well. I went to the top of a building as I was on the ledge of it. I was going to commit suicide. Sakura was the one who saved me that night."

_Ino wiped her tears as she looked down from the ledge. The pretty lights of the street down below made her feel sick._

"_Are you going to jump or what?" Ino looked to the left and saw another 12 year old girl looking at her from corner of the roof. She didn't even see her there. She took in the bright red scarf tied around her neck. She looked deadly. The girl was smoking. Ino's eyes widened when she saw how familiar the girl was. When she saw the red ribbon tied to her hair, she remembered._

"…_Sakura Haruno." Ino said hesitantly._

"_Do I know you?" Sakura asked as she took a hit of her cigarette. _

"_I'm the one who gave you that ribbon back in elementary school before you moved away. We were best friends." Ino said sadly. She went back to face the front. "Don't stop me. I'm going to jump. I can't take it anymore."_

_Sakura frowned as she got close to Ino. She quickly grabbed Ino's left hand and pushed her off the ledge. Ino screamed as she was carelessly hanging many feet in the air. She began to panic as Sakura didn't seem to want to pull her up._

"_Please don't drop me. Don't drop me!" Ino cried. Sakura sighed as she easily lifted Ino back up on the roof. Ino fell to her knees as she began to cry. Sakura crouched in front of her._

"_See. You didn't want to die. Life is beautiful and so are you. Don't give up like that, it just makes you ugly." Sakura smiled as she moved some of Ino's bangs away from her face. "You are beautiful."_

"_He doesn't want me…" Ino cried as she began to shiver from the cold._

"_How can he love you if you don't love yourself?" Sakura asked as she got up and took off her jacket. Placing it on top of Ino's head, she turned her back on her. Ino took in the bandages that covered her chest down to her waist. She noticed it was soaked in blood. "There must be something wrong with that boy of yours if he doesn't like you. Your face isn't even that bad. It's a cute face! You just got to be more confident." Ino's eyes widened. Those were the words she said to Sakura when she was being bullied. Now, she was tough and dangerous. What happened to her? Ino looked up to see that Sakura was gone from the roof. The door to the staircase slowly closed. She had left._

**End of flashback**

"We met once again and became even closer through Hinata since I was a family friend of the Hyuga's." Ino looked at the sons to see they were surprised.

"I-Ino, I-"Shikamaru began to say.

"It's alright." Ino smiled. "It really is. I have you now."

"Man, Ino. Your story sounds more interesting than mine." Chouji said finishing his last bag of chips.

"How did you meet Sakura?" Shikamaru asked his best friend.

"I can relate to Sakura with the teasing. I still don't know why those girls would tease her. I thought Sakura was beautiful with her pink hair and her forehead was fine to me. It just meant she was smart. I was also another victim of Ami because I was fat."

**Flashback**

_It was almost the end of Kindergarten. Shikamaru, Ino, and Haru were nowhere in sight. He had to do this alone. Taking a deep breath, Chouji marched up to Ami and her friends as he presented her with a flower. _

"_T-This is for you Ami. I like you!" Chouji confessed. Ami gave him one bitchy look before she took the flower and ripped in front of his face. He fell to his knees as his eyes got watery._

"_Are you kidding? I don't date fat ugly boys like you." Ami laughed as she pushed him on his back with her foot. Her friends laughed as Chouji was about to cry. Before he knew it, a mud pie hit Ami straight in the face._

"_Leave him alone. You have no taste buddy. Ami will make you sick if you stick around her too long." His pink heroine said._

"_H-How dare you!" Ami screamed. "Iruka-sensei!" She cried. "Sakura threw mud at me!" Her eyes widened even more when she realized there were worms that had just gone down her shirt._

"_Haruno!" Iruka said as he went to the kids._

"_Oh no. Got to hide!" Sakura said as she was about to make a run for it but stopped and helped Chouji onto his feet. _

"_I'm Sakura. What's your name?" Sakura asked._

"_Chouji…" He said nervously. Usually girls don't talk to him besides Ino._

"_Chouji huh? That means butterfly child." Sakura grinned. "You'll become a wonderful person. Don't let Ami get you down." With that said, Sakura ran away as Iruka went after her. Chouji watched quietly as he blushed and smiled. Maybe not all people will judge him for his appearance._

**End of flashback**

"Ew, you had a crush on Ami?" Ino said shocked. Naruto acted like he was going to throw up. Sasuke and the others looked at him as if silently asking what was wrong with him.

"Hey, I was little." Chouji defended himself. "I didn't know better."

"What about you five?" Kakashi asked Gaara, Temari, Tenten, Hinata, and Lee.

"It's kind of embarrassing really." Temari blushed as Tenten awkwardly laughed along beside her. "My story actually involves Tenten a lot. You see, Tenten and I were Yankees in the past. We weren't loyal to any gang groups. We'd roll with the Yellow Scarves and Blue Squares up in Ikebukuro. **(A/N: Durarara)** Tired of the scene over there, Tenten and I went down here to Konoha. We were known as the Twin Dragons."

"I went to Leaf Middle School for my last year while Temari here went to Suna Academy as a second year. She was staying with her brothers at their dad's mansion here. He had died just the year before and left the house to them in his will. I stayed with my grandma who was getting old and needed someone to take care of her." Tenten said. "We met Sakura through the gang life, but we hated her." She finished, surprising her listeners.

"You guys hated Sakura?" Neji asked. He soon looked over to Tenten. "But you three are so close."

"Heh…that's why I said the story was kind of embarrassing. I was saved by a girl three years younger than me." Temari grinned with admiration. "Let me tell you how it went down between us three."

**Flashback**

"_Run it Tenten!" Temari said as she and Tenten ran like the wind. _

_Tenten giggled as the two jumped over a fence, making their escape. Tenten did a flip as she shot her targets straight in the chest. The two had a run in with the Yakuza and stole some of their money. The two quickly stopped when they spotted a fight nearby._

"_Do you see that Temari?" Tenten asked as she snuck to a bush nearby. Her comrade followed after her. The two were surprised to see a small girl with long pink hair. She seemed to be no younger than 11. She wore a red ribbon around her forehead as she wore a white jacket with the Japanese characters "Fighter" on the back. She wore a black mesh top with a black wide leather strap on the top that covered her chest parts and see-through fabric from the torso down. She wore dark green cargo pants and combat boots._

_Around the girl were bodies, knocked out or dead, the girls didn't know. The girl had wacked her weapon to the side as blood flew to the ground. Tenten's eyes widened when the girl looked over at the bush. "Come out. I know you two are hiding there."_

"_Heh, you think you're so tough. Do you know who you're talking to?" Temari called out._

"_I'm Sakura Haruno." The girl introduced herself. Tenten frowned. She didn't seem to notice that Temari was picking a fight with her or she knew and didn't care. Cocky bitch._

_At that Temari stopped with shocked. The person in front of her was the infamous second-in-command of the Ladies. She was youngest second-in-command in history. _

"_I want to fight you!" Tenten said. _

"_I don't want to fight you." Sakura said as she picked up her weapon that was on the floor and began to walk away. _

"_Why the hell not?" Tenten screamed. The nerve of that bitch._

"_It would be an unnecessary battle." Sakura said._

"_Excuse me?"_

"_You'll lose." Sakura said before she turned the corner. Tenten growled as she chased after the pink haired annoyance._

"_BITCH!" Tenten shouted. The girl had disappeared._

"Tenten and I never hated anyone this much. When we bumped into her in the streets, we did some pretty fucked up shit to her. Surprisingly, she still didn't put up a fight. She just gets up, smile, and walk away. It annoyed us to no end. We took out our anger at other people. One day, it got out of control and Tenten and I got jumped. I swear I thought we were going to die."

_Temari hissed in pain as she landed on her elbow. 'This is it' Temari thought as she closed her eyes. Tenten was getting kicked in the stomach by two other members. Before the person in front of her could do the finishing blow, a soda can hit the person with dangerous power, throwing the person off his feet. Everyone stopped and looked to see Sakura standing there with one leg parallel to the ground. That indicated she was the one who kicked it._

"_Oops…" Sakura said in a monotone voice._

"_I-It's you." Tenten weakly said. Sakura began to walk towards the people that attacked Tenten. She soon sprinted and punched the two hard in the gut. They fell over to the ground as Sakura quickly helped Tenten up. Temari weakly got up and went to where Tenten was._

"_Leave this to me please." Sakura said as she turned her back to them and faced the whole gang. Tenten and Temari estimated that there were at least twenty of them. How the hell was this girl going to take them all on if the two of them couldn't handle._

_Before they knew it, Sakura moved through the crowd easily. One by one, they fell to the ground. Blood had gotten on her as she began to crack up evilly. She showed no mercy. The aftermath was a massacre. The girl wasn't bluffing when she said that they would lose if they fought her and these guys were three times her size. Once Sakura had finished her last opponent, she fell to the ground trying to catch her breath._

"_Cherry!" A voice said. A boy with dark skin and short, spiky white hair came running to the girl. Another guy came. He had pale blond hair and wore sun glasses. He was super buff. He was clapping his hands._

"_So this is the strength of The Ladies' second-in-command. I'm impressed. She flies like a butterfly yet stings like a bee like me."_

**End of flashback**

"That how we met Killerbee and Sakura's ex-boyfriend. She was taken to the hospital after that. We were surprised that the people in the hospital knew her. She must have gone there a lot for her wounds. Since then we've stayed with Sakura through thick and thin. She risked her life for two girls who went to make her life miserable. She earned our respect and we joined her group as soon as she was out of the hospital. She soon left The Ladies and created the Red Scarves." Temari smiled. "She's really tough. Don't let her appearance fool you. She became our Banchou."

When Temari noticed the expressions on the boys', Kakashi's, and Shizune's face, she frowned. "What? Don't tell me you guys didn't know Sakura was an ex-gang leader."

"That would explain the cigarettes…" Shikamaru muttered.

"What about you Gaara?" Naruto asked. "How did you become so close to Sakura-chan?"

Gaara had turned as pink as Sakura's hair as Temari snickered.

"Sakura yelled at him after his fight with you and Sasuke." Tenten confessed. "He fell in love right after!" This caught the attention of Sai and Sasuke.

"Tenten…" Gaara growled.

"And he let her?" Sasuke asked. He remembered how Gaara was before. He had only cared about himself and loved only himself.

"He was too shock to respond." Temari grinned. "No one ever had the guts to go up against Gaara."

"If you give them a flashback, I'll push you off the window." Gaara threatened. Temari knew her brother wasn't serious. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine."

"My turn! My turn!" Lee said excited as he shined his teeth. Everyone quickly covered their eyes. "Sakura-san was like an angel sent from heaven. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have been where I am in life." Tenten smiled as she knew the story. "This is how I met your mother!"

**Flashback**

"_Lee, I'm sorry, but you don't have what it takes to join any of the sports." The coach from his middle school said. "You should just give up."_

_Depressed, Lee went to a nearby park to train._

"_Don't have what it takes? If I can't do 400 push-ups, I'll hit the dummy 800 times! If I can't hit the dummy 800 times, I'll do 2000 jump ropes! If I can't then I should give up."_

"_If you can't do 1,000 push-ups, you still shouldn't give up." A voice said that startled him. Lee looked up at the slides to see a girl with pink hair looking down at him. By looking at her outfit, you could tell she was part of a gang. So what was she doing talking to someone like him?_

"_Who are you?" Lee asked._

"_Sakura. Sorry, I couldn't help but watch you train. I saw what happened back at the middle school. Your coach is a douche bag." _

"_You were watching me?"_

"_Ah. Why do you try so hard?" Sakura asked him as she slid down._

"_I-I want to be able to catch up to my class. Unlike everybody else, I don't have enough stamina. I wish to be able to join the Olympics. But my coach said to drop out." Lee said as tears were coming to his eyes._

_Sakura frowned. "Then prove him wrong. You have potential. I can see that. You know, I know someone who is actually looking for a student to take on for the Olympics. Meet me here tomorrow at this time. Don't make me wait." With that, the girl walked away._

"I wasn't sure what to expect, but I came anyways. There was a man with her this time."

"_ALRIGHT! You must be Lee. The name is Gai Maito. Sakura here has told me about you. I like your spunk kid. We will embrace your internal youthness and allow it to expand!" Gai cheered as tears rolled down his cheeks. _

"_G-Gai-sensei!" Lee cried._

"_Lee!" Gai cheered._

_Sakura rolled her eyes as an image of a sunset and waves were behind the two. "Geez…" Sakura couldn't help but smile. "Good luck Lee. I'll continue to check up on your progress and Gai, if you turn Lee into another you, I'll kill you."_

"_That's the spirit Sakura!" Gai smiled as he shined his teeth. Sakura snorted before she walked away in the sunset. Her short pink hair blew in the wind._

_Lee blushed as he watched her walk away. "Sakura-san is so cool."_

"As the years went by, I got stronger by hard-work. Gai had become my inspiration. I got the same hair cut as him and everything. That, however, caused Sakura to give Gai a good beating. Gai-sensei had taught at a middle school close by. That's how I also met Tenten and Neji. They were also training with Gai."

"_Why do you train so hard?" Tenten asked Lee as the two were sitting down under a tree. Lee knew that Tenten was part of a street gang and how she rolled with Sakura. Neji was sparing with Gai at the moment._

_"I want to show I can be a splendid athlete as well even if I don't have much strength and stamina like others ... I want to prove it to the whole world!" Lee smiled. _

_Tenten smiled back. "Even if you're not a genius like Neji?"_

_"A genius, huh? What does that mean? 'Genius'? So I was not born with a whole lot of natural talent, not gifted like Neji ... but I work hard and I never give up! That is my gift; that is my ninja way!" Lee grinned._

_Tenten laughed as she took the moment to hold his hand in hers. "You're not even a ninja Lee. But I believe in you!" She gave his had a squeeze._

"_So do I." Neji said softly. It seemed as if Gai and Neji had stopped training._

_"You have the gift of perseverance, and that's what makes you a genius too! Don't let anything stir you up the path you have drawn for yourself! Forge ahead in the end! Stick to it Lee! Make me proud! Be everything you can be. Run ... run towards the setting sun! But don't mess up your hair!" Gai cried._

"The four of us had become close. These three had also believed in me like Sakura-san. Everything was going alright. I even made it to the Olympics. It was obvious that I could win the whole thing, and no one liked it. They felt inferior and did a horrible thing to me and it cost me my future as well as my hard work."

_Lee was walking down the street as he was heading back to the Olympic Games. Before he knew it, a large screech was heard behind him. He turned to look and saw a large car heading towards him with no intentions to stop. He was hit. When he woke up, he was at the hospital. It was Tsunade who was treating him._

"_How are you feeling Lee?" Tsunade asked._

"_N-Not so good." Lee said weakly. His eyes soon widened. "THE OLYMPIC GAMES! I have to go!"_

"_Lee, I'm sorry, but it's been over for a week. You were badly injured. It was a hit and run. It seems like someone was trying to sabotage you and it worked. Your right arm and leg had been crushed. You may not be able to walk again." Tsunade said as she patted his head. "I'm really sorry Lee. There is an operation I can do for you, but it's pretty risky. The rate of survival is really low." Tsunade bowed as she left the room. A couple minutes later, running could be heard in the hallways._

"_Lee!" A voice called out. Lee was surprised to see Tenten and Sakura in the room. The girls were out of breath. _

"_Tenten! Sakura-san!" Lee said with tears forming in his eyes. "Lee…" Tenten began to say as she went up to him and held his hand. She was crying. "I heard what happened from Gai-sensei. Neji is comforting him back at school. I'm sorr-"_

"_No, I'm sorry." Lee said. "I-I wasted everyone's efforts. It wasn't meant to be. I was a failure. I should have just given up in the beginning. What was my purpose in life? I shouldn't live anymo-"_

"_SHUT UP!" Tenten and Lee both tensed up at the dark voice of Sakura. She was leaning against the door frame as she glared at Lee. She went up to him and grabbed him by the collar. Lee winced with the pain of his arm._

"_Banchou! You're hurting him." Tenten began to say but stopped when she noticed the tears forming in Sakura's eyes. Lee felt them hit his skin. He looked up to see Sakura crying._

"_Don't you ever say that again Lee! You didn't waste anyone's efforts yet! If you give up, then you will. You're not a failure! What's your purpose in life? YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE AND TO BE MY FRIEND!" Sakura shouted. "Goddamn it! You have people that care about you. Don't degrade yourself. When I saw you at school, I thought you would just go home and cry like a little bitch. You didn't. Instead, you continued to train. You showed me the potential you have. You inspired me to become someone greater. Your old coach said you can't do anything. But you made it to the Olympics Lee. You made it through hard work and determination. You know what? Here is what I believe. There are two different kinds of people. Those who are born with a natural talent and do not have to work at it. And those like you! The ones that have to train every day of our lives! And preferable, I'd like people like you."_

"_But aren't all the efforts pointless? With this surgery, I might not even survive." Lee frowned._

"_You're right; all the effort is pointless... if you don't believe in yourself." The three turned to see Gai standing there with tears in his eyes. "You worked hard Lee, there's no doubt in my mind the surgery will be a success. You have the power to shape your own destiny. And on the one-in-one thousand, no, one in a million chance something happens to go wrong, I will die right along with you. Since the day I met you, my nindo has been to train you to become the most splendid athlete possible. That's a promise. Besides, the lotus of Konoha blooms twice!"_

"_That's right Lee. Like I told you before, I believe in you!" Tenten cried._

_Sakura smirked as she wiped away her tears and poked Lee in the forehead. "So do I. So don't disappoint me Lee. Give it all you got!"_

**End of Flashback**

"I owe Sakura-san my life." Lee smiled. "I took the operation and it was a success. Though I couldn't perform like I could in the past, I was okay with it. Sakura and Gai-sensei helped me open the Youthful café. Sakura was still homeless and was living in the park close by. When I heard of her predicament, my new goal was to help Sakura-san any way I could. The others joined my café to help her as well."

Soon everyone looked over at Hinata. She was the last one to tell her story. She blushed due to all the attention.

"I-I met Sakura back when I was 6." Hinata began to say. "I was admitted to the hospital because I was born very weak. The doctors thought I was going to die because I had a weak heart. One night, someone sneaked into my room. It seemed like she was trying to escape. She used my room to go out the window."

**Flashback**

_Hinata opened her eyes as she felt a light breeze enter her room. She looked at the window on her right to see a girl just about her age if not older. She had long pink hair that reached down to her waist and beautiful emerald green eyes that stared back at her in surprise. Hinata gasped as she saw that the girl was about to jump off her window._

"_H-Hey don't!" Hinata called out as the girl jumped. Hinata quickly got up from her bed and ran to her window. She was surprised to see the girl had landed safely on the ground and was making a run for it. _

"Since that night, I was wondering what had happened to that girl. I was finally healthy enough to live out of the hospital. My mom had died five years latter due to smoking. My dad and the elders were arguing. I locked myself in my room crying. It was then we happened to have met again."

_Hinata tried to stop her tears, but they just kept on coming. Why did her mom have to die? Soon she heard the sound of someone coming from her window. Terrified, she covered herself with her thick blanket and stayed quietly in her bed. The window opened as a familiar girl with pink hair entered her room. Hinata's eyes widened. It was the girl from the hospital five years ago. She took in the cuts and bruises the girl had on her body. _

"_W-Who are you?" Hinata asked as she popped out of her blanket. The girl couldn't help but let out a giggle._

"_You look like a turtle!" She said. "The name is Sakura Haruno. Let me hide in your room for a bit. I ran into a few enemies and manage to escape without hurting them too much." _

"_I-I'm Hinata Hyuga." Hinata said softly._

"_Holy shit. The Hyuga Heiress? My dad knew your dad." Sakura said. "I was the Haruno Heiress." Sakura winced as she held to her side. Blood flowed through her fingers._

_Hinata gasped as she immediately ran to the bathroom with Sakura in tow. "W-W-We need to t-t-treat your wounds."_

_Sakura's eyes widened before a genuine smile appeared on her face. "Thanks Hina-chan."_

"Since that night, Sakura would always come over and hang out. She was the one who brought me out of my shell. I cried to her all my family problems and she never once got annoyed of me. In return, she'd tell me everything she went through. I found out her parents died and her brother had abandoned her. She found comfort in her gang. She was creating a new gang called the Red Scarves. I didn't judge her for being in a gang and she told me she appreciated it. Since Ino was a family friend of mine, I invited her as well to hang out. I was surprised to know that the two had already met a few times before. We three became close. I even invited Sakura to one of our family parties. She found out that Neji and I played the violin and she came to watch me perform. My dad knew about her but didn't know she was part of a gang."

_Sakura blushed as Ino and Hinata was leading her around the party._

"_I'm not used to wearing outfits like this." Sakura muttered. Hinata smiled gently. Sakura was borrowing her dark purple dress with matching flats. Sakura was a bit shorting than her and Ino, so they had to bobby pin some of the fabric together._

_Sakura watched as Hinata went on stage with her violin. There was a boy with her with long brown hair. She thought he was pretty cute. He, too, had a violin. Ino had informed Sakura that that was Hinata's cousin Neji. The two began to play beautifully as Sakura smiled. It reminded her of Sasori and her when they were little. He would always play the guitar and Sakura would sing along. When they were done, Sakura went up to Hinata and patted her back. _

"_You were awesome Hina-chan!" Sakura grinned._

**End of Flashback**

"As time flew by, Sakura introduced Ino and me to Tenten, Temari, Gaara, Kankuro, and Lee. We introduced Chouji to them as well. We didn't judge them, and like Sakura, they too had appreciated us and protected us. We protected them as well. They thought of us as their two little Princesses because we're the heiress of our family. And then…" Hinata looked over to Ino who looked down at her feet like they were the most interesting thing in the world. The Hyuga Heiress soon looked over to Tenten hoping she'd tell the story.

"Sakura…Sakura, she…" Tenten tried to talk but lost her voice.

"What happened to her?" Naruto pressed on.

"Omoi and Sakura were dating during the time she met Ino again." Gaara said with venom in his voice. "When she became close to Ino and Hinata, the rest of the gang realized that their leader was becoming soft. That was looked down upon in the gang life. We expected Omoi to help Sakura when things were getting rough. Instead, he slept with Karui and helped Samui gain control of the Red Scarves. Sakura asked to leave the gang life. Everyone was furious."

"Was she-"Naruto began to infer. Gaara nodded. "She was beaten up by Karui. For some reason, Karui was so pissed off about Sakura leaving. She let her emotions get in the way and hit Sakura with no hesitation. Sakura didn't even fight it. Tenten, Temari, and I wanted to leave as well and had to get the punishment."

"But that idiot offered to take in our punishments as well." Temari cried as she clenched her fists. "She took in all three of our beatings for us to leave. Each beating took half an hour. So in total Sakura took a beating for two hours. We were held back and couldn't help."

"I never felt so pathetic in my life." Tenten said with tears in her eyes. "Sakura had done so much for us and yet we just watched her get beaten up. She just kept coming back up and asked Karui to continue. Yugito and Fuu screamed at Sakura to take back what she said. They wanted Sakura to say she was joking. Yet, Sakura just smiled and said that she wanted to be in the light."

"That little bastard of an ex-boyfriend didn't even help." Gaara frowned. "He just watched in the sidelines. I've known Omoi for a few years. He's a very cautious person and likes to think things through before acting. He is more level-headed than Karui. He didn't help in fear that he too would get beating up. Karui finally had enough and let Sakura go. Everyone left her in the ground as Omoi said he had called in an ambulance already and they were on the way."

"She was covered with so much blood." Temari said as she looked at her hands. She could still remember the feeling of Sakura's blood on her hands. She was shaking. "I will never forget that night. It showed how much Sakura would go through for a comrade. She is the definition of a true leader, a true Banchou. She was hospitalized for three months. Once she was out of the hospital, we thought everything ended. But it-"Temari was interrupted with her story when Sasori had rushed into the room with a worried Deidara and Konan.

"Sakura!" Sasori said as he was by her side in an instant.

"What happened?" Konan asked.

"She saved me and Hinata." Ino cried. "We were held hostage by the Lollipops, Red Scarves, and the Ladies."

"Those are dangerous gangs!" Deidara said shocked. "How the hell did you get mixed up with them?" Everyone was silent as they looked at Sakura.

Konan tried to put everything together. "She was part of one of the gangs, wasn't she?"

Sasori's eyes widened as he looked back at his sister. His sister was part of a gang?

The sound of Sakura awakening focused everyone's attention on her.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

I slowly opened my eyes as I tried to get used to the white light. I was surprised to see so many familiar faces surrounding me. I tried to remember what happened. I was fighting Killerbee and I pushed him out of the way of danger. I was hit with one of the woods of the ceiling. Neji carried me out of the house. I must have been in the hospital.

"S-Sakura." Hinata cried as she wrapped her arms around my neck. "Thank goodness." I weakly patted the top of her head.

"Hina-chan…" I said I allowed Hinata to cry on the crook of my neck.

"Forehead!" Ino said as she went to my other side. "Don't you ever do anything stupid like that again!"

I just smiled as I suddenly felt awkward when I saw my brother and his friends in the room along with everyone else. I could see Kankuro, Kiba, Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo come in as well.

"Isn't it past visiting hours?" I asked trying to break the awkwardness.

"Tsunade allowed us in." Shizune said.

I nodded as I took a look at myself. I was bandaged up. I looked like a mummy. My body ached as I tried to get up. Sasori quickly went to assist me as I thanked him.

"Is Killerbee okay?" I questioned as I looked over at Naruto.

"He's fine. You know how he is." Naruto said with a small smile.

"What the hell happened?" Karin asked with a frown. "I get a phone call from Suigetsu that you were in the hospital. You don't know how worried I got!"

"So you do care about me!" I said as I wrapped my arms around her as she got close. Karin turned pink as she tried to push me away.

"What's wrong with you!" Karin said embarrassed.

"Ahem." A deep voice said. Everyone looked to see Hiashi coming into the room with Hanabi by his side. "May I have a word with Sakura…alone." My friends began to leave the room. "Neji and Hinata, you two stay." The cousins stopped as they silently sat on the chairs. Hinata sat on the chair across from my bed as Neji chose to sit on the bed with me. Hanabi closed the door and said she'd guard it from outside. With the click of the door, the awkwardness came back.

Hiashi turned to me. He surprised the people in the room as he was suddenly on his knees and bowed to me. "I am forever in your debt, Haruno-san."

"Sakura is just fine Hyuga-san." I said embarrassed. I looked over at Hinata as she gave me a look telling me she didn't know why her dad was acting like this.

"Then call me Hiashi as well. Not many people would have done what you had for my family. I was quick to judge and that was my fault. Anything you wish for, I'll make it happen." Hiashi said. I realized it took all his pride to bow to a girl like me.

"Then tell Neji what really happened that night he caught you and your brother in that room." I said. I felt Neji tense next to me. Hinata looked confused. I held on to Neji's hand as Hiashi lifted his head up.

"I loved my brother. He found out that he had a disease that would destroy him inside out. As the disease would progress, the outcomes were not good. He didn't want his son to see him this way. So while he still looked fine, he was planning to kill himself. We are twins and were very close. I sensed something was wrong and went to check it out. He had already pierced himself with the family sword. I pulled the sword out and tried to stop the bleeding. I was calling people to get help. He told me to protect Neji since he wouldn't be there for him. He wanted to apologize for being a coward. Hizashi wrote a note for you, Neji, tell you everything." Hinata's father pulled out a note and handed it to Neji who took it cautiously.

Everyone was silent as Neji read the note. I watched as tears slowly dropped on the paper. He was crying. I felt tears form in my eyes as well as I wrapped my arms around him for a motherly embrace.

"I-I'm sorry." Neji said. Hiashi got up as he hugged his nephew.

"I'm sorry as well." Hiashi said. Hinata wiped the happy tears from her eyes as she went and joined the hug. "Will you please come back home where you belong?"

My eyes widened as I tensed up. Neji, leaving the Namikaze household? I didn't want that.

Neji slowly released the hug as he smiled at his uncle. "I'd love to come back to the household." I frowned as I let go of Neji. But he quickly put a hand on my head as he ruffled my hair. "But as you can see, I am where I belong. By my mother's side. She needs me." My eyes got watery as my nose began to sting.

"N-Neji…" I began to cry. He was alarmed.

"Why the hell are you crying woman?" Neji asked.

"This is the first time you acknowledged me as your mother with such happiness." I said trying to wipe my tears away.

"Why are women so emotional? Shikamaru is right, you are troublesome." Neji said. I let out a laugh

"Shut up!" I said. I soon looked at Hiashi. "Sorry, but Neji won't be going home with you." I was a bit scared of what he would do as a response. Surprisingly, he just smiled.

"If that what it takes to make you and my nephew happy, so be it." Hiashi said. "Just promise to come and visit."

"Speaking of which, what about your home?" I asked worried. I felt bad that it was caught on fire.

"They're fixing it as we speak. They said it would be done in a few hours. We have the money anyways." Hiashi said as if it was nothing.

I slumped. I forgot. These were rich people I was dealing with. Damn rich bastards!

After a bit more talking, Hiashi left with Hinata and Neji. I sighed.

"Mother goal 7 has been completed!" Shizune said as she appeared by my side. I jumped.

"How the hell do you do that!" I asked her. She just smiled.

"Are you ready for your next mother goal?" She asked.

I sighed. "Give it to me."

Shizune held out a scroll as she opened it. "Mother goal number 8: Get each son's hand print and frame it in the living room once you finish."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "That sounds fairly easy."

"You have to do it without them knowing though. They cannot know this is a goal or else it will become invalid and we have to add two more goals for you." Shizune grinned.

"You and Kakashi are the evil duo, I swear…" I rolled my eyes.

"Well, get better. Everyone was worried about you." Shizune said as she hugged me gently. She walked out of the room as the door closed behind her. Just when I thought I was going to get some peace and quiet, Naruto decided to come barging in with my sons.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"They had to leave. Sasori said he'd come back tomorrow to visit you with his friends. Ino will come back tomorrow as well." Shino answered.

"You were so cool!" Naruto said with stars in his eyes. "The way you were acting so tough against Killerbee! It was like 'Come at me, Bitch.' And then he charged at you like whoosh, and then the way you took out your sword and was like cling, cling, and then and then, you were like 'you guys leave everything to me.' And then…" Naruto tried to catch his breath as everyone looked at him like wtf. "Yeah…you were just really cool." He finished with a blush. I giggled at his actions.

"Thank you for coming back for me." I smiled at Naruto, Shikamaru, and Neji, causing them to blush.

"So you were a gang-leader huh?" Sasuke inquired. It was my turn to blush.

"How much do you know?" I responded.

"How you met everyone." Sai said with a fake smile. "I would have never expected."

"It's tough to leave your gang. I've been through that. But to take on Tenten's, Temari's, and Gaara's punishments as well, that's crazy!" Naruto exclaimed. Something told me they didn't know what happened after that. Especially since Neji wasn't all over me if he did.

"Sorry to break up this family moment." Kakashi said coming in. "I'd just like to remind you of your final for this semester that's coming up this weekend. Once that's done, you have your winter break with the school field trip to the snow resort. So you guys better study, especially you Naruto. The room you will be testing in will be posted tomorrow. So drop by at school tomorrow." Kakashi soon left the room with a wave as the door closed behind him. At that moment my sons and I looked at each other.

Everyone's eyes widened. FINALS? Do you guys understand what that meant?

**F-** FUCK

**I-** I

**N- **NEVER

**A-**ACTUALLY

**L-**LEARNED

**S-**SHIT

FML…

**Haha poor Namikaze family. Finals are coming up in a few days. How are they going to prepare for that? The person that should really be worried is Naruto. We'll see how everything goes. More of Sakura's past has been revealed. The story between Sakura, Ino, and her father will come out soon. Please review everyone.**

**-Kumiko**


	29. The Annual Snow Trip Brings Drama

Hey everyone. I'm so sorry for not updating recently. I've just been busy with school and midterms. Also I've been sick as well, not the business. But i made this chapter long just for you guys with an extra bonus story to make it up. Enjoy and don't forget to review you lovely readers.

**Sakura Kiss**

Sigh, Finals…

Finals really sucked, especially if you're trying to get your son to concentrate on his studies and not the newest ramen being advertised on television.

"NARUTO!" I growled as I watched him jump from his seat. Since I was still in the hospital until the day before finals, Naruto had come to visit in order for me to help him. Shikamaru was too lazy to care, Neji was helping us organize our snow trip, Shino was too Shino to help, and also Sasuke and Sai were still rivaling…sheesh.

"Sorry Sakura-chan." Naruto smiled sheepishly at me. I rolled my eyes as I looked at the book in front of us. We were studying for Physiology at the moment. I was going over chapter 7: The Skeletal System. It was the last chapter of the semester. According to Neji, the final consists of science, math, history, and English. Surprisingly, Naruto was doing fairly good. I went over everything and by the time I was done, I sighed. Naruto had fallen asleep at my right side of the bed. I twitched as I noticed him drooling a tad bit. I let out a soft chuckle as I ruffled his hair. In three day, it is the big day.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Two days later, the gang minus Sakura met up at Lee's café. Since business was really slow, everyone had time to relax.

"I'm not ready!" Naruto cried as Hinata tried to comfort him.

"Ah, I remember that horrible test!" Tenten said with a sigh. "Worse week of studying in my life."

"Is it really that hard?" Ino asked as she was painting her nails with Karin. Temari was crinkling her nose to the smell.

"Trust me, the only people that would probably get the highest score is Shikamaru or Sakura." Tenten said. "Honestly, I had to cheat in order to make it to at least the top 20."

"Not even with my hard work or dedication." Lee said as he finished wiping the tables. "I wasn't very youthful. I, too, cheated."

Neji noticed that everyone was looking at him. "What?" He asked a tad annoyed.

"Did you cheat Nii-san?" Hinata asked slowly.

The answer was pretty obvious when Neji blushed and turned his head to the side. "Hn."

Everyone's eyes widened. If Konoha Academy's previous S.C. President cheated, this test wasn't something to joke around with.

Naruto frowned. "Screw studying…" He muttered.

Kiba nodded his head. "I heard Kakashi-sensei is making the test."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Suigetsu asked as he grinned at the two. Naruto's eyes glinted and Kiba smirked. It seems like they were going to visit a certain pervert tonight.

"What are you three idiots planning?" Sasuke asked in an indifferent tone.

"Nothing to worry about, my man!" Suigetsu chuckled as he slapped Sasuke on the back. Sasuke rolled his eyes. He didn't want to get caught up with what they were planning. He had some cheat sheets to make.

"This is all so troublesome." Shikamaru said as he got up from his nap.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Naruto snickered as he, Kiba, and Suigetsu easily snuck into Kakashi's home. The three jumped over the fence to his backyard. According to their sources, Kakashi was at the bar with Yamato and Genma and wouldn't be out till later on. He had already finished the tests and they were sitting on his desk.

The three managed to sneak into his basement by breaking the window. Hopefully he wouldn't notice. Naruto led the boys up the stairs as he opened the door. As he stepped into the quiet house, he felt like he was forgetting something. Shaking his head, he headed to the office room and saw the computer on with stacks of paper on the desk.

Kiba ran to the desk and took a packet. Suigetsu and Naruto copied him as they all sat on the floor.

"This is it boys!" Suigetsu gave a toothy grin. "Tonight we will become legends of Konoha Academy!"

"On the count of three, we open them together!" Naruto announced. "One…"

"Two…" Suigetsu counted.

"Three!" Kiba shouted as they opened the packet. The answers shined in the dark room. In the background, the song 'Hallelujah' by Handel's Messiah played as they all smiled at each other and their epic bromance. So distracted in the moment, the boys failed to notice the guest they had in the room.

"Arf!" A deep low sound was heard. The boys froze as Naruto gulped loudly. He had forgotten that Kakashi had dogs in his house. He looked up to be face to face with the largest dog of the group Bull. On top of Bull's head was Pakkun. Surrounding the two were Shiba (the one with the black crest), Bisuke (little one with droopy eyes), Akino (one with glasses), Guruko (little one with Naruto-like whiskers), Ūhei (one with bandages), and Urushi (one with not black crest like fur).

"It's just a bunch of dogs." Kiba said waving off-handedly. "Nothing to worry about. It's not like someone important is in the house."

"Ahem." A voice behind them said. The three swore they shit bricks. Slowly cranking their head to the left in unison, they felt their blood run cold when they saw Kakashi standing in the doorway with Yamato who looked at them with his infamous look.

"What do we have here, sempai?" Yamato asked as his look didn't lessen.

"It seems like we have three bad eggs in my home." Kakashi said calmly with a smile.

Kakashi with a calm voice, a smile, and a situation like this was never good.

"Oh shit…" Naruto cursed.

"Attack!" Kakashi ordered the dogs.

Endless girly screams were heard throughout the night.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Everyone sat down fairly silent as Ibiki came on stage glaring at us all. We were in the gym with long rows of tables, four at each one. I was sitting next to Gaara and Chouji. Suigetsu was supposed to be sitting with us, but he wasn't present. At the table in front of us were Ino, Ami, Karin, and Shino. To my right were Sai, Hinata, and Sasuke. Naruto was assigned to sit at their table but wasn't present. In fact, he wasn't even at home this morning. Shikamaru, Jugo, and Kasumi were to my left. Like the other two mentioned, Kiba was also not there. I wondered where they were. With everyone around me, it was not a good place to put all of us so close together, but I wasn't complaining. Four more people soon joined the stage. I recognized them as Anko, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Shizune.

"Alright you maggots!" Anko said as she took a step forward. A large banner rolled out behind her as smoke appeared on stage. "Today is the day you guys take the test that will determine whether you guys will stay here for another year or move on with your life. This is part 1 of 2 which you'll take next semester!"

"Must you always have a grand entrance?" Ibiki asked. I chuckled as I continued to pay attention. "I will not tolerate any cheating. In this room, there are forty teachers that will be watching you closely. If you are caught cheating, the consequences will not be pretty. Take example of these three idiots." Kakashi soon appeared on stage with a smiling face, pulling the beaten up idiots by the rope. Naruto, Kiba, and Suigetsu were beaten up to a pulp. Blood and bruises covered them.

"OH MY GOD!" I screamed as I got up from my chair. My peers were dead silent as they watched Kiba try to raise his head but fell back unconscious. Suigetsu looked like he wasn't even breathing.

My mouth dropped. Just what the hell did these three do?

As if he read my mind, Kakashi spoke with a glint in his visible eye. "These boys were caught breaking and entering into my home to get the answers from the test I was making by myself and Yamato-sensei." Kakashi grinned. "They were forced to deal with the consequences."

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata said with tears in her eyes as she covered her mouth.

"Idiot!" Karin growled glaring at Suigetsu.

"Served him right…" Shino said, shaking his head at Kiba.

"You guys are given an hours to complete this test." Tsunade said taking charge. "BEGIN!" She raised her hand as everyone opened their booklet. Thirty minutes went by as I was soon stuck on a question. Damn. Looking around, I wasn't surprised to see Shikamaru already knocked out. I wondered if he finished his test already. Everyone was working diligently. Before I knew it, Kurenai went up to Shino.

"Please remove your jacket." She asked nicely. Shino silently took off his jacket to reveal cheat sheets all over. Sneaky bastard. Girls squealed at the half-naked member of the student council.

"I'll give you a warning." Kurenai said as she rolled her eyes. "Now go back to your seat and finish your test."

I shook my head. I had to concentrate on my own paper. I looked over at Sasuke to see him cheating off of Hinata's papers while having cheat sheets under his sleeves. Sai was silently working on his own paper. I couldn't tell if he was cheating or not.

"Thirty more minutes!" Ibiki's booming voice said. I continued to work harder. I only had one more question to go and it was the hardest one of all. And it was a short answer question. Damn it. I soon began to say a rhyme to myself.

Look up for inspiration…

I prayed to God to help me find the answer.

Down for desperation…

I glared down at my paper hoping the answer would just appear out of nowhere.

Left and Right for information…

Gaara was glaring at his own paper while Chouji was drawing food all over his. I swear this school was so weird. I closed my eyes as I continued to think. They soon snapped opened as I looked at Naruto. I felt like he was calling out to me telepathically. That's right! He had seen the answers for this test. That idiot was tied up and resting against the wall. I watched as he picked his nose and began to write down the last answer of this test. He must have known I was at the last question. I had tears in my eyes as I wiped them away with my left arm. Don't worry son! I won't let your efforts go in vain! I waited patiently as Naruto finished writing in his own blood before he gave me a thumb's up. I almost fell out of my seat as I slammed my head against the desk. He drew a freaking bowl of ramen with his name signed under it.

"TIME'S UP!" Anko shouted. Jiraiya rang the bell telling us that it was all over.

"Finally!" Ino cried out as she jumped out of her seat.

"Sit down Yamanaka!" Tsunade ordered. "Come back tomorrow to find out if you passed or not tomorrow. Now, don't forget to meet here on Thursday. You guys will have five days to prepare for the senior snow trip."

"What will happen to those idiots?" I asked.

Tsunade smirked. "They'll be taking an even harder test."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The next day, everyone crowded around the large bulletin board looking at everyone's score. My eyes widened when I realized I made it number one.

"She beat Sasuke-sama!" People began to say.

"She must be very smart!"

"Well duh. Look at her forehead." I glared at the last person's comment. I soon looked for my friends. Shikamaru was second after me, followed by Sasuke with 3rd, Sai 4th, Shino 5th, Karin 10th, Gaara 9th, Ino 13th, Hinata 12th, Chouji 20th, and Jugo 19th. Surprisingly Naruto actually made it in the top 20s. He was the 18th. Suigetsu was 17th while Kiba was 14th.

"Congratulations Haruno." Tsunade said as she came and patted me hard on my back. I bowed to her.

"Thank you." I said.

"You were just like your mother." Tsunade said with a glassy look. "She, too, was the top of her class." She soon stopped herself as if she was revealing a secret. "Well, have fun with your snow trip. I heard a few of the alumnus from last year will be in charge along with Kakashi, Shizune, Yamato, Kurenai, Anko, Asuma, Genma, and…Gai." I stifled a giggle at the face the principal was making.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

It was like a white wonderland. The mountains, trees, and buildings were covered in snow. We went to the snow country. We had taken limos here. I had finally gotten used to them. I was super excited to find out that I was rooming with Ino, Hinata, Karin, and Tenten. Our suite was very large with seven rooms. Temari couldn't come because she wasn't an alumni but she and Kankuro were taking care of Lee's café for him so he could come to the trip.

"THIS PLACE IS SO YOUTHFUL!" Lee said with tears in his eyes.

"EMBRACE THE YOUTHFULNESS!" Gai cried along with his favorite pupil.

"Calm down you two." Neji said as he sweat dropped. Tenten just giggled. We were all in the front checking into our rooms. The only bad thing was that we had to share the room with Ami and Kasumi.

"I'll call the biggest room!" Ami called out with all her bitchiness as she bumped into Hinata who was setting down her luggage. She fell to the ground as Karin went to help her up.

"Bitch…" Hinata growled quietly. I raised an eyebrow. Since when did Hinata cuss?

"What the hell Watanabe?" Ino growled.

Ami looked over her shoulder as she smirked. "She was in my way." With that Ami and Kasumi went to their rooms.

"This trip is going to be a disaster." Tenten sighed.

"Let's not let those two get the best of us." I said trying to comfort everyone. Soon our doors opened as Naruto jumped into the room.

"Let's go to the slopes!" He shouted.

"He's hyper as usual." Tenten said. "Oh by the way, how did the tests go?"

"Sakura-chan got first place!" Naruto grinned.

Tenten smirked as she pulled out a stack of tarot cards. "Heheh, just like I predicted."

"These idiots were caught sneaking into Kakashi-sensei's place and trying to get the answers." Karin said as she pointed at Suigetsu and Kiba entering the room with the rest of my sons.

"What happened when Kakashi-sensei found you?" Hinata asked Kiba.

"The horror! His dogs attacked us and then he hung us up in the basement until testing!" Kiba cried as Suigetsu looked traumatized.

"Where are Gaara, Chouji, and Lee?" I asked.

"Lee is off training with Gai, Chouji is at the buffet, and Gaara is dealing with a girl out the hall." Neji answered as he entered the room with the rest of his brothers. I raised an eyebrow as I peeked out the door to see that what Neji said was in fact true.

"Hey, that's the chick from that day Gaara, Temari, and I went to hang out!" **(A/N: referring to the bonus story with Matsuri.)** Tenten said as she was on top of me. "I wonder what she's doing here."

"Gaara is with a girl other than Sakura?" Ino gasped as she was under me.

"I-It's not nice to peek at other people's personal moments." Hinata said as she went next to Ino.

"Yet you're doing it?" Karin asked.

I watched as Gaara continued to listen to what the girl was saying as she blushed before she nodded and walked away. We quickly acted like we were normal and walked out into the hallway.

"Who's the girl?" Sai asked. I glared at him for bring it up.

"Just someone I know…" Gaara said before he walked away. As he did, he looked at me with a weird expression before passing by me.

"Gaara…?" I called out as I went after him in the hall way. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm going back to my room to relax. I'm tired." Gaara said as he continued to walk. I frowned. He didn't even turn around to talk to me. Gaara…what is wrong with you?

The group decided to go out to the slopes tomorrow for us to relax from traveling. The girls decided to go to the hot springs. We were stuck between the "girls only" sign and the "mixed" sign.

"M-M-Mixed?" Hinata started to hyperventilate.

"We get to see Kakashi-sensei!" Ino and Tenten grinned as they high-fived each other.

"Don't forget Genma-sensei and Yamato-sensei!" Karin squealed. Hinata turned red as I covered her ears while I shook my head at the three.

"Ino, you have Shikamaru. Tenten, you have Lee. And Karin, you have Suigetsu!" I reminded them.

"Well, Lee and I aren't even together and so aren't Karin and Suigetsu. So we two are okay to check those hotties out."

"You guys suck!" Ino frowned. "Well, it's okay. See, See, no touch!"

"I-Ino-chan?" Hinata said turning redder.

"Less talking, more looking!" Karin said fanning her right hand as she opened the curtains with her left to reveal a scary looking Yamato with his arms crossed in front of his chest. We screamed as we backed up from him.

"Sorry ladies, we were given orders to forbid students to bath together. You girls will go over there were the female teachers will watch over you." Yamato shut the curtains.

"I wonder if he heard us." Ino asked with a light blush.

"I hope not!" Karin giggled.

"L-Let's just go to the ladies' side the-"Hinata was interrupted when she walked right into a pair of breasts.

"Hyuga?" Anko asked as she placed her hand on the top of Hinata's forehead. A guy that was walking by ended up with a nosebleed.

"Anko-sensei, you're blocking the way." Ino said.

"Why aren't you ladies at the mixed bath? Go out there and have fun!" Anko pouted.

"Yamato-sensei stopped us." Tenten explained.

"Psh, party pooper. Well the girls' bath is right next to the guys'" Anko smirked.

We followed Anko out to the bath to see all the girls from our class there. Kurenai and Shizune were having a pleasant talk not too far away while Ami and Kasumi were on the other side of the bath. We decided not to get to close to them.

"SA-KU-RA-CHAN!" Naruto's voice called out from the guys' side.

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata blushed.

"Naruto…you idiot. What do you want?" I shouted as I headed to the wall that separated the two baths.

"Sai is being gay!" Naruto cried.

"I'm simply saying that I was right. You really are dickless." I could hear the smirk in Sai's voice.

Most of the girls on my side blushed. Can I just drop myself right now? Omg, these boys were so embarrassing.

"Now, now Naruto. Let's not interrupt Sakura from her lovely bath." I blushed. "Hope you have a good time relaxing." That was Kakashi's voice. Ino's dirty thoughts appeared in my head. KYAH! I was turning into a pervert. I turned to my right to see Ino grinning at me.

"Kakashi is only in a towel!" Ino squealed and Karin squealed.

"You women are so troublesome." Shikamaru said. It seemed like most of the guys we knew were resting near the wall. "You guys are causing a scene."

"Troublesome?" Ino growled. "Forehead, your boobs don't seem to be growing."

My eyes widened before I glared at her. "What was that Ino-pig?"

"S-Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, don't fight!" Hinata said swimming to us.

"Hey what's going on?" Tenten asked as Karin followed after her.

"I mean, I'm a C, Hinata is a D, And Tenten and Karin is a B. You, however, are an A, no?"

My left eye twitched. Just what the hell was Ino planning? She gave me a wink before grabbing my boobs from behind me.

"I-INO-PIG! Don't grab my boobs like that!"

"Oh come one Forehead, having someone massage them for you will help them grow!" Ino said happily. "Play along!" She whispered afterwards.

"I-Ino-chan…" I said in a sexy way.

The sound of boys running towards the fence made me laugh.

"T-Troublesome woman…" I heard Shikamaru say.

"Bwahaha!" Ino laughed. I shook my head. My best friend was so weird.

I was the first one to go back to the lockers. I was surprised to see the Matsuri chick from earlier. She was with another girl with long brown hair.

"What did Gaara say?" The girl with long hair said. Matsuri blushed as she smiled.

"H-He said he'd respond to me once he does something important." Matsuri said softly.

My eyes widened. Gaara got a love confession?

"What do you mean important?" Her friend asked.

"There's another important person in his life and he has to deal with that person first. I can tell he's scared though." Matsuri answered. "I'm scared too. What if Gaara chooses that person over me?"

"Just give him time, Matsuri-chan." I waited for the two to go away before I changed into my new set of clothes. I let out a sigh. What was that about? Why didn't Gaara tell me?

"So you heard?" I turned around to see Tenten giving me a small smile.

"Gaara likes that one girl from earlier!" I inferred.

Tenten nodded. "Yeah, but something is stopping him. A certain person that is…"

"Who?" I asked. There was a glint in her brown eyes. She knew something and wasn't going to tell me.

"You should ask him yourself." She said as she patted my head. "For someone so smart, you're clueless sometimes."

I rolled my eyes as I left the lockers. It was a coincidence that I bumped into Gaara. He seemed to have been finished with his bath as well.

"Gaara!" I called out as I ran up to him. He stopped at his spot and made no other movement.

"Hey…" He said. It looked like he didn't want to face me. I frowned as I pulled him by the shoulder to have him face me.

"What's your problem?" I raised my voice at him.

"…Nothing." Gaara began to say.

"Nothing? You've barely looked me in the eye today. Something is bothering you and you're hiding it from me. Gaara, you're my best friend. I love you."

A deep chuckle escaped him. "You love me, but it's not the same way as I-"He stopped as he shook his head. "Forget it. Just go back to your precious Sai or Sasuke."

"What's with the attitude? Why didn't you give Matsuri a straight answer?" I asked. Turning around to face me, his jade eyes looked at me as he narrowed his eyes.

"How do you know about that?" He asked me. He sounded like he didn't want me to know.

"That's not the point. If you like her back then why are you still hesitating?" I questioned him as I went to reach for his cheek.

"Why are you?" He spat back as he slapped my hand away from his face harshly. My eyes widened at his tone and action. "You don't understand me! You don't know me! You have no right to ask me why I'm hesitating. Why are you so scared to face your own problem with Sai and Sasuke? Those idiots are 'in love' with you and yet you avoid them as much as you can. Did Omoi hurt you that bad? Give me a break Sakura? It's called moving on! Stop running around the bush and just tell them who it is. Are you that scared to tell _him_? Why aren't you doing anything about it?"

"You already know who it is…" I began to say.

"Yes, I do know. I've always known. It was so obvious." Gaara growled as he began to shake me by the shoulders. "But why aren't you doing anything? You don't know how annoying it is!"

I took a step back as I slowly clutch my chest. It hurt. Why was he acting like this? His eyes widened when he realized what he had done. He went and opened his mouth to speak but I beat him to it.

"You're right…" I said as I had my head bowed. I looked up and mustered up a fake smile for him. "…I don't know you…not this Gaara…this Gaara isn't my Gaara."

"Sakura, I-"I ignored him as I ran away down the hallway.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

I ran as fast as I could. Why did it hurt? Why was Gaara acting this way? Before I knew it, I bumped into something hard. I felt myself fall as someone broke my fall.

"Ouch, that fucking hurt." I looked through my watery eyes to see Sasuke clutching his head.

"S-Sorry…" I said wiping my eyes quickly.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he slowly sat up. I was sitting between his legs.

"I-It's nothing." I said with a blush. This was the first time I properly talked to him since the whole confession.

"You wouldn't be crying if it was nothing…" Sasuke said as he got up. He soon pulled me up by my elbow. "Hn." He led me to his room where he shared it with Suigetsu, Naruto, Lee, and Kiba. The others weren't in yet. I sat in the couch that was in the middle of the room. He sat a few feet away from me as he lied back against the couch.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Sasuke began to ask.

"Have you always been this talkative?" I asked.

"Have you always been such a crybaby?" He replied. I glared at him while throwing a pillow at him. I giggled as I rubbed my eyes.

"Thanks Sasuke-kun..." I smiled honestly at him. I took a deep breath. "It's Gaara. We got into an argument earlier and things went downhill from there." I pouted. "Some girl confessed to him and he's hesitating to give her an answer."

"Do you know why he's hesitating?"

"That's the reason why we're fighting!" I exclaimed as I stuck my hands out.

Sasuke sighed as he brushed his fingers through his hair. "For someone so smart, you sure are clueless."

I narrowed my eyes. That was the same thing Tenten told me.

"Sasuke-kun...?" I began to say.

"Remember the night of thanksgiving when you walked out of the house?" He soon asked me. I nodded, urging him to continue. "Gaara pretty much confessed that he was in love with you."

I was shocked. Gaara was in love with me? I found it quite hard to breath.

"Do you love him back?" Sasuke continued.

"N-No, well of course I love him but not the way he wants me too. He's my best friend…I-I"I couldn't talk. I got up from the couch as I went to head towards the door. Sasuke stopped me by grabbing onto my wrist.

"Sakura…" I looked at Sasuke straight in the eyes. I soon found out that I had to look away. His eyes showed so much honesty. He knew there was another reason why I couldn't answer Gaara. I could also see that this guy really was in love with me.

"I-I have to go Sasuke…" I said as I grabbed my wrist back and ran out of the room. As I ran out, I almost bumped into Ami who was shocked to see me coming out of Sasuke's room.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The next morning, Tenten and I went to have breakfast early. The other girls were still sleeping. Tenten told me she and Hinata saw what happened between me and Gaara and went to talk to him about it.

"You know right?" Tenten asked me as we went to the buffet. "You know that Gaara's in love with you. That's why he's hesitant to reply to Matsuri. He likes her but he's still in love with you."

We soon heard a gasp as the two of us turned our heads to see Matsuri with a hurt-filled expression on her face.

"Matsuri!" I called out as I ran after her. We ended up in the front of the hotel as she finally stopped.

"I-I'm sorry." Matsuri said. "I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up with Gaara-kun when I have to compete with someone like you. Why you?" Matsuri asked as she threw a snowball at me. I quickly dodged it as I continued to walk up to her.

"Matsuri. Gaara is just confused." The closer I got to her, the deadlier her throws with the snowballs were. Before I knew it, she slapped me hard across the cheek. She seemed shocked of her action as she took a step back.

"I-I-"She began to say.

"I don't love Gaara like that!" I said. "He's my best friend."

"Y-You don't?" She asked.

I smiled as I shook my head. "Gaara and I have been through a lot of things together which makes our bond really strong. I love Gaara like a brother. He was there for me when I was at my worse. He never gave up on me. I'm sad of the distance between us. I don't want us to drift apart. It is my fault. If I had only realized sooner, I could have stopped it from getting stronger. I want Gaara to be happy and if it's with you, even better. You're a good girl. I can tell."

"Even after I slapped you, you're still nice to me?" Matsuri said unbelieving. "I can see why Gaara-kun fell in love with you. I-I'm sorry." She said with a bow.

"It's okay. I've been hit with worse." Matsuri raised an eyebrow at me. "My name is Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you Matsuri-chan."

She blushed at the suffix I added in her name as she in turned smiled. We went back inside the hotel as a worried Tenten met us at the front. All was good, until later on when we all went to the slopes.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Everyone was skiing and snowboard while I decided to make a small snowman. I heard crunching noises and looked up to Gaara walking by alone. I went to wave at him but he complete ignored me. I knew it. Gaara hated me because I couldn't give him an answer. Even more footsteps were heard and I saw Kakashi-sensei smiling down at me.

"Hey Kaka-sensei…" I muttered as I placed my attention back to the snow in my hands.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" He asked me as he squatted down next to me and began to help me make my snowman.

"Didn't feel like going out there." I said in a monotone voice.

"I heard about your fight with Gaara. Girls just love to gossip, don't they?" Kakashi said.

"I'm okay…" I said as I gave him a fake smile. I mentally frowned. I need to stop hanging around Sai. Kakashi opened to a page from his porno book.

"Reading porn even out here? You're a terrible teacher." I teased.

"And you're a terrible liar." He said off-handedly. "Don't let this get you down. Things will all soon come into place. Your bond with Gaara is strong. It won't break over something as stupid as this. You're a special and smart girl, Sakura." He ruffled my hair fondly.

"INCOMING!" Naruto's voice called out. I looked to see Naruto riding a sled down with Sai behind him. He was holding onto the reins. They hit Kakashi who went flying.

"Oh man! Kakashi-sensei! I'm sorry! Don't fail me! It was Sai's fault! He didn't stop." Naruto cried.

"Ah, I didn't know how…" Sai said with a smile. I was surprised to see it was a real one. His usual pale cheeks were pink.

"You're just jealous that I was here with your mother." Kakashi said brushing off some snow from his hair.

"You seem to be having fun." I said bravely facing Sai. He looked at me with that smile.

"Yeah. Sledding was actually pretty fun. What are you doing here by yourself?"

"Ah, needed some alone time." I said honestly. Our conversation was interrupted when we heard yelling.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" A voice shouted. I ran to where the voice was coming from. I saw Ami yelling at Karin.

"How dare you?" Karin said as she slapped Ami across the face.

"Mad that Suigetsu kissed me?" Ami smirked.

"Mad that you'll never get Sasuke?" Karin spat. Ami narrowed her eyes as she shoved Karin back. Karin's eyes narrowed before she tackled Ami to the ground. "Why are you so against Sakura? What did she ever do to you? Just leave her alone!" Karin raised her fist to punch Ami straight in the face but Tenten quickly grabbed her fist.

"Karin! Ami! Stop fighting!" I shouted. Ino and Tenten went to hold a furious Karin back while Kasumi and Hinata were holding Ami back.

"Ladies, what's going on?" Kurenai shouted as she and Anko snowboarded down to where the fight was. Sai, Naruto, Kakashi, and I ran to the commotion. Suigetsu, Neji, Jugo, and Gaara showed up as well.

"How could you betray me for that Haruno bitch?" Ami snarled as she kicked Karin in the stomach.

"Oi, Watanabe! Language!" Anko said trying to stop her.

Karin broke free from her hold and grabbed one of her skis and slammed it to the side of Ami's waist. Suigetsu soon came and tightly grabbed Karin around the waist.

"Let me go! I'm going to kill her. You spoiled little bitch!" Karin said as she struggled to break free Suigetsu's hold. He quickly kissed her on the lips, silencing her once and for all.

"That's enough Karin." Suigetsu said. Everyone watched as Anko slowly let go of Ami. She huffed and began to walk away from the crowd. I followed her to the forest.

"Ami!" I called out.

"Why the fuck are you following me?" Ami yelled.

"I wanted to make sure you're okay." I said with a frowned.

She began to walk away as I followed her. We made it to the end of an area surrounded by bright orange gates. The word 'caution' was everywhere. Ami began to stomp her feet and yell.

"Why? Why does Sasuke-kun like you so much? Why does everyone think you're so fucking special? It's not fair! I was here way longer than you, yet everyone looks at you like you're some kind of princess. I loved Sasuke-kun the longest! You're just an ugly bitch with a wide foreh-"Her hazel eyes widened as I watched her slowly fall back. The part she was on was breaking off from the mountain.

"AMI!" I shouted as I ran for her and reached my right hand out. Time seemed to be going in slow-motion for us. I grabbed her quickly by her right wrist and pulled her back up with all my might. As she was pulled up, I quickly switched our positions so I would be the one falling. My green eyes widened as I saw Ami look at me in shock and fear.

"NO! HARUNO! SOMEBODY HELP!" I could faintly hear Ami's cries as I continued to fall.

I fell as I hit a tree branch on my way down. I gasped in pain. I think I just dislocated my left shoulder. The wind was so strong; I was being thrown around like I weighed nothing. I finally hit the ground with a large impact. My whole body was aching. I was facing upwards. I could see I fell many feet below. The wind and snow was picking up. It was getting colder by the minute. I slowly got up to my feet and tried to walk. I soon looked around my surroundings, it was getting dark and harder to see. I began to walk for a good five minutes before my body gave up on me as I fell face forward. I was still sore from earlier injuries and my dislocated shoulder made it worse. My eyes slowly closed as I struggled to stay awake. An image of Gaara, Sasuke, and Sai appeared I my mind. Someone please find me quickly…

x

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**Bonus Story: **Why Sasuke hates sweets.

"Aw, what a cute picture!" Sakura squealed as she was looking through the photo album she found while cleaning Minato's room.

"What are you looking at Sakura?" Neji asked as he came into the living room. Sakura pointed to the picture she was looking at. Neji's eyes widened with recognition.

"That was my 10th birthday party. It was a year after Minato took me in." He answered as he continued to stare at the photo. It was a picture of the boys minus Shino with a mushed up cake in front of them. Minato was behind them smiling as he had his hands resting on Naruto's and Sasuke's heads. Neji was in the middle trying to hide the smile that was forming. Sai looked at the camera awkwardly as he let out a smile while clutching onto his sketchbook. Shikamaru grinned as he had an arm around Neji's shoulders. Naruto was happily eating a piece of mushed cake. Sasuke's expression surprised me the most. His cheeks were tinted with red from embarrassment as his eyes were a bit watery. A small piece of cake was in his hands.

"What was going on with this picture? I thought Sasuke hated sweets." I asked. Neji took a seat as he closed his eyes in memory.

"This was the reason why he hated sweets."

x

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Minato hummed happily as he was setting the house up for Neji's birthday. He had taken in five kids into his custody: Sai Sakamoto, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Neji Hyuga, and Shikamaru Nara. Neji was training with his teacher in judo and wouldn't be back until much later. His 'sons' offered to help decorate the house. Naruto was running around the backyard with streamers. Shikamaru lazily placed balloons here and there. Sai was helping decorate the picnic table. Minato was cooking food. Sasuke had finished setting up the games and had nothing else to do.

"Done already Sasuke?" Minato asked walking to the dark boy.

"Ah." Sasuke said.

Minato sweat dropped. One worded answers. Sigh… just like his father, Fugaku. "Well, would you like to go on a very important mission that only someone like you could do?"

Sasuke's ears picked up as he turned to him. "Mission?"

Minato inwardly smirked. Hopefully this would help Sasuke become more social to the others.

"Yes, I need to get a cake over at the bakery down the street. Are you strong enough to get it for me?" Minato asked as he tilted his head. Sasuke's eyes shined at the word 'strong'. He nodded.

"Hn." He stuck out his hand. Minato sighed as he handed Sasuke forty dollars.

"Alright. I trust you. I made the cake order already. Just hand the cashier the money and say my name. They'll get the cake."

**XxXxX**

Sasuke smirked as he entered the bakery. Even as a nine year old, he thought he was quiet responsible. Minato would be proud of him for getting the cake.

"Oh my, hello." A chubby woman said as she smiled at the small child in her store. "Can I help you?"

"Cake pick up for Minato Namikaze." Sasuke said proudly as he handed the woman the money.

"Oh wow. Such a man getting an order for his father. You're so responsible!" The woman praised as she went to the back to get the cake. The cake was bigger than what Sasuke though it would be, but it was okay. He would manage. He lifted the cake in his two hands and began to walk out. "Are you sure you can carry it home by yourself?"

"I'm a man." Sasuke said as he walked out. On his way home, Sasuke had slipped as the cake went flying up in the air. Sasuke watched with eyes wide open as the cake landed on the ground. He ruined Neji's cake.

It wasn't until twenty minutes later that Minato came looking for him with a worried Naruto.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out. His eyes rested to the destroyed cake on the floor and Sasuke's guilty cake. Minato soon understood what was going on. With nothing but a forgiving smile, he lifted Sasuke onto his shoulders as Naruto carried the cake. When the trio entered the home, they were greeted with a worried Sai, Shikamaru, and Neji. Neji was looking at the destroyed cake that Naruto put on the table.

"Sorry…" Sasuke said as he looked to the ground in shame. Neji said nothing but took a piece of the cake and ate it. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"The cake was doing to be destroyed anyways." Neji said as he continued to eat his piece. Naruto began to join him in eating.

"This cake is almost as good as ramen!" Naruto exclaimed. Minato let out a laugh as Sasuke allowed a small smile to appear on his face for once.

"Let's take a group picture!" Kakashi said coming in with a camera. The boys lined up as Minato was behind them.

"Thanks for getting my cake…" Neji said as he ruffled Sasuke's hair. Sasuke blushed with embarrassment as he wiped his tears.

"Ah."

x

x

x

x

x

"You make me sound like a wuss crying over spilled cake!" Sasuke said coming into the room. Sakura smiled.

"He was so embarrassed; he made an oath to never eat sweets again." Naruto said as he came around and hugged Sakura from behind the couch.

"Stupid." Sai smiled as Sasuke glared.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru came in the living room as well.

"How about we take a picture of all of us to place in the photo album. There's one space left, am I correct?" Shino asked, fixing his shades. Sakura flipped the page to see that there was indeed one space left.

"Good idea Shino!" Naruto grinned as he ran to get the camera. Placing it at a table nearby, he set it to make sure everyone was in and set the timer.

"Teme, Neji, smile for once!" Naruto said as he made his way next to Sakura who was in the middle. Shikamaru was next to her as Neji and Sasuke were on his side. Sai and Shino were next to Naruto.

The camera began to beep crazily until a bright flash appeared. Sakura smiled. She truly felt like they were a family.

"I said smile Teme, not smirk!" Naruto cried. "Another one!"

"Shut it Dobe!"

x

x

x

x

So much things happening in just one chapter. I decided to give Sasuke and Gaara some moments with Sakura since Sai has been taking the spotlight for the past few chapters. Anyways, Sakura is such a trouble magnet. Girls are just hating left to right. I know you guys are mad for the cliff-hanger but honestly, I have no idea what will happen and who will find her? The test portion was somewhat similar to SoulEater. You have to admit, Naruto would have done the same thing. Find out next time. Please review everyone.

Love Kumiko


	30. You Are My Best Friend

**Greetings from Amsterdam. I'm waiting for my flight to Kuwait right now. I have like an hour of waiting to go. So I'll try to update my stories as much as I can since I won't be working over the summer. Andersen Bakery at Oakridge closed down for the time being while we're doing renovations. So I get the summer off. In the words of London Tipton "YEA ME!"**

**Sakura Kiss**

"Karin, have you calmed down?" Anko asked as everyone was forming in groups. Employees announced that there was going to be a blizzard later and was best if everyone was inside before then.

"Sorry…" Karin pouted as she looked to the ground. She let her emotions get the best of her. She gave Konoha Academy a bad impression. How embarrassing. Somebody soon walked up behind her.

"I didn't kiss her Karin." Suigetsu said as he went up to her and pulled her against his chest. "You're the one I want. Not her." He kissed her forehead as Karin blushed. Ino grinned as she took pictures.

"Alright. We're going to do roll call. Please meet up with the teacher you were assigned to." Kurenai announced.

Kakashi frowned as he double checked his list.

"What's wrong my eternal rival?" Gai asked as he finished his list. He noticed that Kakashi seemed to be worried.

"Has anyone seen Sakura Haruno and Ami Watanabe?" Kakashi asked aloud. It was then everyone noticed that the two girls were gone.

"She was with me and Sai before the fight." Naruto frowned.

"She was there during the fight as well." Kasumi noted. "Ami-chan went to blow off some steam. Do you think Sakura went after her?"

"NO! HARUNO! SOMEBODY HELP!" A faint cry was heard.

"That sounded like Ami." Karin frowned as everyone looked at the direction the scream came from. More yelling was heard as it got closer. Asuma got closer to see Ami in tears as she was running to their direction.

"HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE! HELP!"

"Whoa! Calm down." Asuma said as he held Ami by the shoulders. "What's wrong?" The other teachers went to the hysterical girl. The students got closer to hear what was going on.

"I-I-I-"Ami couldn't form the words. Tears continued to flow down her cheek.

"Everyone give her some room to breathe!" Shizune ordered as everyone took a step back. "Ami-san, what happened? Was Sakura-chan with you?" At the name of Sakura, Ami broke into more sobs as she fell to her knees.

"T-The cliff. S-She followed me a-after the fight. H-H-H-Haruno fell off the cliff!" Ami cried. Everyone felt their blood turn cold.

Before Ami knew it, Sai came up to her and grabbed her wrist and held it up. She winced at the pressure he applied in his grip.

"Did you do it? Did you push her off the cliff?" Sai asked glaring at her. Everyone was shocked that it was Sai asking.

"Sai…" Naruto began to say but stopped himself from saying anymore. Ami's chocolate orbs widened before she shook her head.

Ami was taking a long time to answer so Sai began to shake her. "Did. You. Push. Her."

"N-No. Cliff…I-It crumbled. I-I was falling…she pulled me back up but f-f-fell instead. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Ami cried as Kasumi went to comfort her friend. Sai slowly let go of Ami as he placed his hand over his face.

"S-Sai-sama…" Kasumi frowned. He truly liked Sakura. She never had a chance to begin with.

"Kurenai-sensei! Go and call for the rangers." Sasuke said taking charge. "I-"

"You'll be going with the others back to the inn. Leave it to the adults." Genma said as he moved his large toothpick to the other corner of his mouth with his tongue.

Naruto took a step up. "But s-"

"Naruto, don't worry. We'll find her." Kakashi said as he ruffled his hair. Naruto soon turned his attention to Gaara who was still in shock. It looked like he couldn't breathe. Tenten was comforting him at the moment.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Three hours passed as the teachers were back in the inn.

"Asuma-sensei!" Shikamaru called out as he ran to the man.

Asuma closed his eyes and shook his head. "We didn't find anything yet. It was getting dark for us so the rangers told us to go back to the inns. All of the ski resort staff is out looking for her. If they can't find her, they're calling the police."

"Damn it!" Neji cursed as he brushed hair back with his fingers. Ino was sitting down between Hinata and Karin. She had her face in her hands.

"They'll find her!" Karin said comforting the blond. "Sakura is strong."

Ami was across from them curled up in a ball. She had never felt so bad in her life.

"It's not your fault." A familiar voice said. Ami looked up to see Sasuke looking at her.

"Sasuke-sama…"

"We'll find her." Tenten said walking up to the two. The other teachers were in the other room discussing the situation at the moment. Everyone took in Tenten's outfit.

"Tenten, it's snowing hard outside!" Lee exclaimed. "You aren't going outside, are you?"

"I'm going to go out to look for her." Tenten said putting on her goggles.

"Don't be stupid." Neji said. "You might end up being lost next."

"I'm going to look around the area she was last at. I'll be right back." Tenten said. "I can't just stay here knowing that Sakura is out there alone."

Sasuke growled. "I'll go too!"

"I shall go as well." Sai said coming up to the group.

"Same!" Shikamaru said.

"No." Tenten announced. "If too many people leave, the teachers will notice. That's why it will be me, Neji, Lee and-"

"And me." Gaara said walking up to them.

"Why should you go?" Sasuke asked as he glared at him. He had him by the collar of his shirt. He remembered he was the reason why Sakura was crying last night.

"She's my best friend. I'm not going to leave her out there by herself." Gaara said as he slapped Sasuke's hand away.

"Hn." Sasuke said as his hand dropped to the side of his waist. "You better find her." Gaara nodded.

"Karin! Tell the teachers we'll be going to look for Sakura!" Tenten announced as the four of them left to leave.

"W-Wait!" Karin called out as she looked up from comforting Ino. "Damn it."

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Have you guys found anything?" Tenten screamed over the harsh sounds of the wind. Everyone met up to the spot where Karin and Ami were fighting at.

"I couldn't find anything." Neji said as he clenched his fists. He was getting worried and it scared him.

"Where's Lee?" Tenten asked.

"I remember seeing him go towards the forest in that direction." Gaara said. On cue, Lee came running towards them.

"EVERYONE! COME QUICKLY!" Lee cried as he went back into the forest. Everyone rushed as they ended up to the cliff. Like Ami had told them, the cliff crumbled. There were caution signs around the area.

Tenten fixed her goggles. "I'll go down and look for her. You guys go and get the teachers!" Before Tenten could slide down, someone had grabbed her tightly by the wrist.

"I'll go." Gaara said as he grabbed onto Tenten's wrist. His green eyes were pleading.

Neji sighed. "Alright. Gaara, you go and look for her. I will stay here. Tenten, you and Lee report back to the teachers." Everyone nodded as Gaara slowly slid down the trail nearby. It was getting darker and colder.

"Damn it, Sakura. Where are you?" Gaara asked himself as he continued to walk around. He was not going to give up. He was going to find Sakura. As he walked, he couldn't help but remember when he first met Sakura and how she became an important person in his life.

**xXxXxXx**

_Gaara frowned as he was in the hospital bed. He had gotten into a really bad fight with that Naruto and Sasuke from Konoha. He got beaten up pretty bad. He could just imagine what his sister would say when she saw him. _

"_This will be your room. You'll be sharing it with another person." A voice said. _

_Gaara looked up to see a nurse escort a girl into the room. She was covered in bruises and scratches. She took the bed nearest to the window as the nurse helped her settle in. _

"_Gaara, this is Sakura Haruno. Sakura, this is Gaara Sabaku." The nurse turned to leave as the girl looked at him. He had to admit the girl was really pretty. He never met anyone with pink hair. With her green eyes, she looked like a fairy. Why the hell was someone like her sent to the hospital? She looked like she got into a fight as well. He noticed that she was looking at him with the same eyes the adults in the world looked at him. _

"_What are you looking at?" Gaara growled. He didn't like the girl eying him like she was better than him._

_She smirked. "You're Gaara, member of the lollipops."_

"_What is it to you?" Gaara frowned. He felt like this girl was teasing him. Why wasn't she scared like the others who have met him? He didn't like it. Soon the door to his room opened, revealing his sister._

"_Gaara, what the hell where you thinking going all the way to that middle school and getting into a fight with Kyuubi and that Uchiha? I had to hear it from Tenten who was there!" Temari scowled. Gaara ignored her and continued to pay attention to the girl next to him_

_Temari noticed as she smirked. "Gaara, this is the second-in-command of The Ladies Sakura Haruno. Sakura, this idiot is my brother Gaara." Soon Temari's phone rang. "Sorry, it's Kankuro. He wants to know what happened. I'll be back." With that, Temari left the room. Sakura soon went up to Gaara._

"_You know my sister?" Gaara asked. Sakura ignored his question with her own._

"_Your sister is right. Why did you start a fight?" Sakura asked._

_Gaara glared at her. "It ain't any of your business, girl. Heh, you, second-in-command of the Ladies. That's hard to believe." Before Gaara knew it, that girl had socked him in the face, hard._

"_Don't underestimate me, bastard." Sakura growled as she pulled him by the collar of his shirt. For some odd reason, he felt oddly threatened by her. Not only had this girl talked back to him, she actually had the guts to punch him in the face and man did that hurt. He could feel his right cheek bruising. "Your sister was so worried about you and you act like such a douche around her. You know what your problem is? You only care about yourself. You don't care if you hurt anyone else. Temari is like a sister to me. Seems to me, I'm a better sibling to her than you'd ever be. You don't seem to care about her at all."_

_Gaara narrowed his eyes at the girl. How dare she? _

"_You don't know me." Gaara snapped. "I care about Temari and Kankuro more than you ever will. They're my siblings!" _

_As soon as he said those words, he turned as red as his hair. That was the first time he ever said something about his siblings in such a way. Sakura smirked as she got out of her bed. She soon headed out of the room._

"_Good to hear. Be a man and back up your words." Sakura said with a wink before leaving._

"_Where are you going?" Gaara couldn't stop himself as the words left his mouth._

_Sakura's eyes widened before smiling. "Like me already? I hate hospitals and the doctors and nurses here know that. It's pointless for me to be here. Tell Temari, I'll see her soon." With that said, Sakura left the room as she shut the door behind her._

_Gaara couldn't help but glare at the door. That girl was weird. He didn't like her. No one ever talked to him that way except for Temari. It felt weird. Temari and Kankuro soon came into the room a couple minutes later._

"_Where's Sakura?" Temari asked as she looked at Gaara. "Don't tell me you scared her off!" _

"_Sakura? Who's that?" Kankuro asked._

_Since that day, he couldn't help but think about her. He would subtly ask Temari how her gang was holding up in the streets because he knew Temari would just talk more about Tenten and Sakura. Kankuro wasn't in a gang because he said someone in this family had to be normal. As if boys playing with dolls were normal._

_**XxXxXxX**_

Gaara took a moment to rest as he leaned against a tree. It was getting harder to walk through the snow. The wind was blowing even harder as he pulled on his hood and drew warm air into his palms. He soon rubbed his hands together before continuing to find his best friend.

**XxXxXxX**

_The next time he met Sakura again was when he went to meet up with the Lollipops in their hang out. On the old beaten up couch on the stage were Killerbee and Omoi. Surprisingly, Sakura was between them. Sakura recognized him and waved at him happily. Gaara was shocked that she was here with his gang. Wasn't the Lollipops and the Ladies rivals? He was even more surprised to see her acting so friendly towards him. He didn't show it though and just slowly nodded his head at her. Omoi, who noticed the interaction between them, just nodded his head at Gaara while slipping his arm around Sakura's shoulder and offered her a lollipop, but not before kissing her on the cheek. _

"_Yo! Yo! Yo!" Killerbee said with a grin. "Everyone, we have agreed to come into an alliance with the Ladies. You see, our own second-in-command, Omoi, is going to date their second-in-command, Sakura. You guys know her as the Shinigami." _

_The gang began to whisper to themselves. Gaara couldn't help but feel weird at the sight of Omoi's arm around Sakura, even more when he kissed her on the cheek. He honestly didn't trust Omoi enough even though they considered each other friends. Temari seemed against it too, but if it made Sakura happy who was she to say anything about it. Kankuro and Tenten would tease him by saying he was jealous. Gaara got them to shut up by glaring at them. Omoi and Sakura ended up going out for over a year, much to his dislike. Maybe he was jealous._

**XxXxXxX**

Fifteen minutes passed by and he still hadn't found any signs of Sakura. He was getting worried. What if she was badly hurt or worse…what if she was de-Gaara stopped himself from thinking such thoughts. This was Sakura he was talking about. Sakura somehow always ended up in the most difficult situations yet she managed to come out alright. She was a strong person who understood the world of pain. It amazed him how she could smile through everything. He guessed it was what attracted him to her. Her smile was contagious. He would find himself doing it around her only to quickly hide it with a scowl. But the moment he first saw Sakura cry, he wanted to kill someone.

**XxXxXxX**

_Gaara couldn't help but sigh as he lifted his scarf up more on his face. His sister was too damn lazy to go and buy herself her own hot chocolate mix and shampoo. He just had to be home while Kankuro was out working. It was a cold winter night as he was passing by Konoha Park. He wasn't shocked to see Sakura there. She was sitting down at the bottom of the swirly slide. From what he heard from Temari, she was homeless and was living in the park. She didn't want any of her friends to help her out. It had been a year since he became friends with Sakura. She introduced him to Ino and the others a while back. Sakura, his sister, and Tenten had broke off from 'The Ladies' and created a new group called 'The Red Scarves' half a year ago and they had already gained in power. They were even stronger than the Lollipops. However, he realized that she was going soft as a leader. He had heard the gossips going around when he'd meet up with his sister and Tenten once in a while. The other gang members were looking down upon Sakura due to her weakened state. Speaking of weakened state, the girl still hadn't notice him. The nerve of her. Hesitantly, he walked up to her and squatted in front of her. He could feel some of the tanbark go into his shoes._

"_Oi…" Gaara said softly as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He was never one to comfort people. As he got closer, he realized that she was crying. Before he knew it, Sakura latched herself onto him as she continued to sob. He felt anger run through his veins. Who ever made her cry would get it. After a while, Sakura was able to settle down and tell him what happened. She had walked in on Omoi cheating on her with Karui of all people. To make it worse, Karui had told her that she was getting demoted from her position as Leader because she wasn't doing her best anymore. He didn't understand why he was so pissed off. _

"_W-Why does everyone want to leave me?" Sakura cried. "What's wrong with me?"_

_Gaara sighed before pulling Sakura closer to his chest. "There's nothing wrong with you, Sakura. Omoi is stupid to see what's in front of him. You're the best person I know…" He said fighting a blush. "…I'll always be here for you. I'll never hurt you. You're one of my most important people. I promise." Sakura looked at him as if detecting any lies. Soon she smiled._

"_Thank you Gaara! You're one of my best friends. I love you."_

**XxXxXxX**

Gaara paused in his walk as he felt his blood turn cold. He had promised Sakura to be there for her no matter what. He promised he'd never hurt her. Look what he had done. Gaara fell to his knees as he punched the ground. He was so angry. Sakura had done so much for him and he acted like the selfish bastard he was known as. Sakura loved him. She loved him so much, but it just wasn't the kind of love he wanted from her. It wasn't enough and he hurt her because of it. DAMN IT. Gaara slowly got up from his knees as he continued to search for Sakura. He continued to walk before he tripped over something. "What the fuc-"He stopped when he saw a hint of pink, purple, and red in the pile of snow. Brushing some of the snow away, he ended up seeing a familiar face.

"Sakura?" Gaara said aloud as he begun brushing more snow off. "Oi, Sakura!" He brought her close to his chest as he begun to shake her. She was as cold as the snow around them. She didn't respond for a good two minutes and Gaara began to fear the worse. Soon she began to shift in his arms.

"Sakura! Sakura!" Gaara continued to shake her as Sakura began to slowly wake up. Examining her closely, she had cuts and bruises on her face. He guessed she got that from the fall. She walked really far from the cliff. As Gaara continued to shake her, she winced as she grabbed onto her shoulder. Gaara immediately let her go. She dislocated her shoulder.

"It hurts…" Sakura murmured.

"Sakura, we have to get you back to the inn." He slowly put her on his back as he began to walk where he thought would be heading back to the inn. Seeing her like this reminded him of that night…the night she put her life on the line for him and the others…the night he realized he loved her.

**XxXxXxX**

_Gaara slowly headed over to the commotion at The Red Scarves' turf. Jei had called him to help break up the fight that was bound to happen. Jei didn't give any details other than where it was at. He wasn't going to go until he saw Omoi skate-boarding past him like crazy down the street or the fact that Tenten and Temari had just sped past him on their motorcycles. Going faster on his motorcycle, he headed to the place where Jei told him to go to. People were forming a circle inside the building as he saw Omoi sitting down on the red beaten up couch with Samui. Pushing his way through the crowd, he saw Karui standing in front of Sakura, who was already sporting a bruise._

"_Excuse me?" Karui screamed at Sakura. _

"_You heard me. I want out!" Sakura said with determination._

"_You know the rules of those who leave the group." Samui said as she leaned back on the couch that belonged to the leader of The Red Scarves. She crossed her right leg over her left as she rested her left arm on the arm rest. _

"…_I know…" Sakura said._

"_Banchou, no!" Fuu shouted her opinion. "You're joking right?"_

"_You can't be serious!" Yugito asked. "Why the fuck are you leaving? If you're leaving because of Omoi and that slut, that's stupid. You're better than that!"_

"_SHUT UP! SHE'S NOT YOUR LEADER ANY MORE! Samui is now the leader of The Red Scarves." Karui announced._

_Gaara looked over to Omoi who was quietly watching next to Samui. That bastard! He wasn't doing anything. Did Sakura mean anything to him?_

"_I'm leaving this life. I want to be a better person than this. I want to be in the light." Sakura answered. She was soon punched in the face by Karui._

"_Is it because of those rich friends of yours? You've gone soft. Tell me you're not leaving! TELL ME!" Karui ended up kicking Sakura in the face as a few joined in on the beating. Temari and Tenten were held back. Half an hour passed as Sakura lied on the ground face first. Karui was going to go with the final blow until-_

"_I'M LEAVING AS WELL!" Tenten screamed as the attention soon flickered to her._

"_You're leaving too?" Karui growled._

"_If Sakura and Tenten are leaving, so am I." Temari said as she grabbed her weapon._

"_This is stupid." Gaara said taking a step. He could see Sakura looking at him in shock before looking at Tenten and Temari._

"_You guys don't be stupid. Just because I'm leaving doesn't mean you guys have to." Sakura said as she spat out blood from her mouth. _

"_We're going nowhere without you, Banchou." Tenten grinned. "I thought you knew that already."_

"_You guys know what happens." Omoi said as he looked over to his best man Gaara._

"_Ah." Gaara said ready for the punishment._

"_NO!" Sakura shouted as she struggled to get up. "I'll take in all of their punishments. I'll take each and every hit. Just let them go freely." Everyone's eyes widened as they looked at Sakura in shock._

"_Sakura no!" Tenten said as she ran to Sakura. Sakura quickly pushed her away. "Karui! I'll take all their punishments."_

"_You think you're so tough?" Karui growled. "Fine then! You asked for it. Hold those other three traitors back." People did what she ordered. Jei and Shii had to hold Fuu and Yugito back._

_Just like Sakura said, she took every hit and every kick Karui sent her. At the end of the beating, Sakura was on her back with Karui straddling her. She continued to punch her on the face. Each blow to the face caused Gaara to cringe. Fuu was holding back from beating Karui up. Yugito had to look away. Tenten was on her knees with her arms still held back. Temari was still struggling to get free. _

"_Sakura!" Tenten cried._

_Gaara looked over to Omoi to see him slowly walk away._

"_Damn it!" Karui growled before letting all her anger out on her final hit. She lifted Sakura up by the collar of her jacket and onto her feet. Sakura was swaying and falling because Karui had broke her left leg. Before anyone could stop her, Karui grabbed a fist full of Sakura's pink locks as she slammed her face to the cement. Sakura's head bounced as she coughed out blood. Karui walked away as the crowd made way for her. Samui tsked as she made her way to Sakura._

"_What a shame…" Samui said. "You were an excellent leader…" With that said, she left along with the rest of the Red Scarves. Killerbee didn't show up because no one told him about it. Everyone knew shit would have gone down if he knew his favorite was trying to leave. It was pitiful to watch. Omoi soon came back with Jei and Shii by his side. _

"_Gaara…" Omoi began to say. Gaara had to control his anger._

"_What?" He hissed._

"_I called the ambulance already." Omoi said as he flicked the stick from the lollipop he had in his mouth to the side. "They'll be here soon. Sorry." He soon left with the others. Fuu and Yugito stayed back until the ambulance came. Temari kneeled down in front of Sakura as she held her in her arms. Blood was sweeping through her fingers._

"_Idiot…" Temari whispered. "IDIOT! What the fuck were you thinking?"_

"_A true leader would do anything for her gang members." Sakura said coughing out blood. "I'm glad you guys are okay."_

_Gaara soon took the beaten up girl in his arms as she winced. _

"_It hurts…" Sakura murmured. _

"_Don't worry, help is on the way." Tenten cried as she held Sakura's right hand. Sakura smiled before falling unconscious. That night, the three of them made a silent promise to protect Sakura no matter what. _

_Gaara didn't know how to react. This was the first time someone stood up for him like Sakura did. He made a silent promise to himself that Sakura would always be his first priority. He knew he was in love with her then._

**XxXxXxXxX**

Gaara adjusted Sakura on his back as he held on to her legs tightly. Sakura's arms were wrapped around his neck. He was careful with her dislocated arm. Gaara made his way back to the trail he came from.

"Stay awake, Sakura…" Gaara said as he felt Sakura shift a bit.

"…Gaara?" Sakura began to say. Gaara stopped as he felt Sakura shake her head. "No, Gaara wouldn't come for me. He's mad at me. This is Naruo, right?" He felt Sakura hold him tighter.

Gaara didn't know what to say so he began to move again. "Naruto, I don't know what to do. Gaara hates me. I lost Gaara. I couldn't answer his question because I'm scared. I'm in love with Sai…"She gripped onto his jacket. "…but I like Sasuke as well. It's not fair for both of them or Gaara so I chose not to do anything about these feelings. If I choose, I'll end up hurting someone. I don't want that. I don't." Gaara's eyes widened as he felt hot tears fall down his shirt. She was crying. "I don't know what to do anymore. It hurts thinking about it. Gaara is in love with me as well. But I can't return his feelings. He's my best friend. I thought it was enough. I love him but not the way he wants me to. Why am I hurting everyone?"

Now Gaara felt like an ass. He didn't know Sakura felt this way. Some best friend he was. "I'm n-Gaara isn't mad at you, Sakura. You're his best friend. That won't ever change. He loves you, but now he realizes what an ass he was. He's the one who's sorry. He hopes you don't hate him."

It took Sakura a good few minutes before she responded.

"…I can never hate Gaara…" Sakura said quietly. It was soon silent as Gaara looked back behind him. She had knocked out again. Gaara couldn't help but smile. Things seemed to be alright again.

After a couple minutes, Gaara had made it to the end of the trail as a bunch of people ran up to him. Shizune had gone and checked Sakura.

"Her eyes are dilated and she seems to have trouble breathing. Her shoulder is dislocated as well." Shizune analyzed. "We have to take her inside. She's cold to the touch."

Everyone surrounded them when the rangers brought Sakura in.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out but Neji stopped him as he shook his head.

"She needs to be treated. Gaara found her." Neji announced. Hinata and Ino let out a sigh of relief. Gaara however continued to frown.

"Don't mention that I was the one who found her." Gaara said. "She told me something I shouldn't have heard yet. Let her believe that Naruto was the one who found her." Gaara told Sakura's oldest son.

**XxXxXxXxX**

My green eyes slowly opened as I tried to get use to the bright light in the room.

"She's waking up!" A loud voice said. I winced. That had to be Naruto. I tried to remember what happened. It soon came back to me. I saved Ami from falling off the cliff. I fell instead. Naruto came to save me and brought me back.

I looked to see all my friends in the room. "Hey…" I said weakly.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried as he wrapped his arms around me. "We thought we lost you. Don't do reckless stuff again!"

I hugged him back. "Thank you for saving me Naruto." I noticed the weird look Naruto gave me but he didn't say anything.

The door to the room opened as Ami entered the room. She had her hands behind her back as she looked at the ground. She seemed to be fighting with herself. Before I knew it, she flung herself on to me.

"Sakura!" She cried. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" She trembled as I rubbed her back.

"It's okay. I'm glad you're okay." I smiled. She seemed to have a guilty look on her face.

"Sakura, I'm sorry for how I've been treating you lately. You still came to save me. Thank you." Ami said as she wiped a tear away. "From this day forward, I find you worthy of being my friend."

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at her statement. Hey, at least we were all friends now.

"You idiot!" Sasuke came up to me as he glared. I shivered a bit. Man, Sasuke can be scary when he wants to be. "Why would you do something like that?"

"I'm sorry." I said. I really couldn't answer. It was the spur of the moment. Everyone soon came in to greet me or to tell me how stupid I was. I'll admit what I did was pretty stupid. Shizune treated me wounds and I'd be able to enjoy the rest of the week trip by tomorrow as long as someone was with me.

Everyone soon left the room as I sighed. Gaara still didn't come to visit me yet. A knock was heard. I looked up at the door to see Matsuri shyly waving at me as she entered the room. It was already late at night, so I was surprised she was here.

"I heard what happened to you from my grandmother. She owns this resort." Matsuri said as she took a seat.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I have caused for you all." I lowered my head.

"Just stop getting in troublesome situations." A deep voice said. Gaara came in with a stuff elephant in his hands.

"Gaara…" I said a bit awkwardly. Were we still fighting? Before I knew it, Gaara tossed the elephant to me.

"I'm sorry." Gaara said. "I've been a stupid best friend recently." My green eyes widened. "I love you Sakura." I saw Matsuri look down with a frown on her face. Didn't Gaara know that Matsuri was in the room? "But I want to love you as my best friend. The other kind of love, I want to give it to this girl right here." Gaara went and placed a hand on top of Matsuri's head.

"D-Do you mean it?" Matsuri asked as she looked up to him hopefully.

"Ah." Gaara nodded. I couldn't help but smile at the two. The two said their goodbyes before leaving me in the room. I was happy. Gaara and I were in good terms again. Things seemed to be going great until a certain person came into the room.

"Hey Ugly." I rolled my eyes at the nickname.

"What do you want?" I asked him. Me being alone with him in the room was causing my heart to beat faster than usual. Sai had an unreadable expression on his face. I could tell that whatever he was thinking of was bothering him.

"When I heard that you had fallen off the cliff, I felt this emotion I couldn't explain. It was a bad feeling." Sai said as he walked up to me and sat at the left side of my bed. "I don't want to ever feel that way again."

"Sai, I-"

"Sakura, I realized that I like you." Sai said with a serious face. I began to blush under his intense stare. He finally said my name. "I won't lose you to Sasuke or any other guy." Before I knew it, Sai kissed me on the lips.

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Okay, that was a dream I had. Sai didn't really do that. In fact, he didn't even visit me late at night. He did with the others earlier. I sighed as I carefully turned to my side with the good shoulder. What was I going to do with my feelings for Sai? It seems like it was time for the good ol' girl talk. Urg! I grabbed the blanket and tossed it over me as I sighed once more. It was time to call it a night.

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**Hey everyone, I'm in Kuwait now for the next two weeks visiting family. I'm suffering from jetlag but I wanted to be able to upload this chapter as soon as I could. Yes Gaara and Sakura are best friends again. Yea for friendship and Gaara for saving her. I know most of you guys don't like Gaara with Matsuri. I don't really like her with him either. I'd prefer Sakura but Sakura is already going to be taken by Sai and I didn't want Gaara to be by himself in this story. Anyhoo, what did you guys think of the chapter. I remembered that I didn't let Gaara have his flashback in the 'How I Met Your Mother' chapter so here it is. Please review everyone. I also wonder if I have any readers from Kuwait. **

**-Kumiko**


	31. Girl Talk

**Sorry for taking so long in updating my stories. I just came back from my trip to Kuwait and a few of people I know just died from cancer this month, especially my Aunt. She passed away a couple days ago and I'll be attending her funeral tomorrow. I'll be busy this June- July with all these vacations planned like Six Flags' Magic Mountain this weekend, hopefully Anime Expo, and then Vegas in this middle of July. Well it's hot as heck right now here in Cali, and I'm still suffering from jetlag. So I'm going to call it a night. Have fun reading this chapter. Don't forget to review.**

**Sakura Kiss**

I slowly walked around the hotel as I went to open the door. Before my hand could even reach the handle of the door, Kiba quickly opened the door for me.

"Let me open that for you, Sakura." Kiba said.

"Uh, thanks…" I said awkwardly. Where the heck did he come from? He was nowhere near me!

I made a quick right as I headed for the buffet room. My stomach was growling and I was hungry! I went to reach for a plate but someone got it before I could.

"Sakura-san! You're looking extra youthful today! What food do you want? I'll place it on your plate."

"I got it Lee, thanks." I said as I took the plate from him and began putting food on the plate.

Jugo soon came to help me in my seat as Hinata offered to feed me. I told everyone I was fine and decided to go back to the room to relax from the headache that was bound to happen. As I headed for the stairs, I heard a bunch of footsteps behind me. That's it!

"How many times do I need to tell you all? I'm fine!" I said getting irritated. Ever since I've been allowed to move around the resort, my friends have been following me non-stop. It's not that I don't appreciate it. Trust me, I find it sweet, but given too much and it becomes annoying like cavities. They've been doing things I could easily have done for myself. I turned around to face them with a glare only to be met with puppy-eye looks. Well Sai, Sasuke, Neji, and Gaara were just pouting. Was that even possible? Shino, on the other hand, I couldn't even tell what expression he had on his face. Soon everyone looked at each other before pushing Hinata towards me.

"W-We were only worried about you…" Hinata said as she blushed. Her eyes were getting watery as she played with her fingers. I glanced over at Ino and Tenten who were grinning evilly. Bitches, they knew I could never be angry at Hinata. They were lucky she was nice enough for them to use her like this. "Are you mad at us, Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked as her puppy-eye look increased ten-folds.

I mentally fell to my knees, defeated by the cuteness which is Hinata.

"Ooh, I could never be mad at you Hinata!" I exclaimed as I pulled her into a hug. Hinata smiled as she hugged me back. "I know you guys are worried, but I'm fine now. I'm a big girl."

"How can we not worry?" Shino asked, fixing his glasses.

"You're a klutz." Sai said with a fake smile as if speaking about the weather. I felt an arrow with the word klutz go through me.

"You're always getting into trouble." Neji frowned as he crossed his arms. Another arrow went through me.

"You're too nice. You're going to get taken advantage of!" Naruto said. And another.

"You're just a troublesome woman…" Shikamaru said as he yawned. And another.

"Hn…" Sasuke said. Aaaaand another. This time I truly fell to the ground defeated. I was getting ganged up by my sons. Oh woe is me. I wiped the tears from my eyes as I pouted at them.

"You guys are so cruel to mommy!" I said before I ended up laughing. Our friends that were watching the scene were laughing as well.

Though I was able to move around the resort, Shizune had forbidden me to go to the slopes with my friends. Sai offered to stay back and watch over me, which is why we were in front of the fireplace as I was on one side of the loveseat reading the latest wrestling magazine. What? Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm not allowed to read these types of magazines. Sai was on the other side reading something I couldn't tell. All I could see was a Louis Vuitton advertisement on the back of the magazine. Sighing, I looked up to see what happened to the champion from the last article. My eyes widened.

"WHAT? The champion got knocked out in round one? Damn it, how pathetic! He lacks fighting spirit. Fighting spirit!" I grumbled as I glared at the magazine.

Sai on the other hand was reading some magazine. I could barely process what he was saying as I continued to glare at the magazine.

"Ways to make a girl's heart stir huh? Get close to their ear and whisper…" Sai said as he turned to me. "I understand now." If I wasn't so into the magazine, I would have noticed the way Sai was looking at me. He slowly slid close to me to the point that our thighs were touching.

"Hey there…" He whispered in my ear. Sai was in the danger zone as I let out a punch that sent him flying to the other side of the room. I ended up punching him right in the stomach as he got the wind knocked out of him.

"When you punch, you have to put your back into it strike!" When I let my punch go and hit something solid, it was then I was brought back into the real world. My eyes widened as I saw Sai sprawled on the floor.

"Sai! Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? It wasn't on purpose!"

"Y-You're punches are deadly…" Sai managed to say as he gasped for air. I blushed as I tried to help him up.

"It was an accident I swear! I feel really bad." I said frowning.

"Do you?" Sai asked as he raised an eye brow. He got close to my face as I could feel his hot breath against my ear. "Then kiss me…" he whispered.

At those words, my heart began to stir as I felt my cheeks heat up. Did he say what I think he said? I closed my eyes and waited for him to make the move first. When he didn't, I opened them to see him staring at me intently.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Did I do it correctly? Did your heart stir? In this magazine, it said to do that…" Sai said, holding up said magazine. I gritted my teeth as I quickly got up and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Sai asked aloud.

"Away from you!" I growled before turning the corner and headed straight to my room. It was time for a bath and to clear my thoughts. When I arrived to the room, I went to my room to gather my stuff for the bath. Finished with that task, I left my room only to see the girls coming in.

"Sakura?" Karin called out. "I thought Sai was watching over you." At the mention of his name, the girls seemed to have noticed my bad mood escalated.

Ino grinned with amusement. "What did Sai do this time?"

"Don't want to talk about it right now. I want to take my bath!" I whined. Hinata, Ino, Tenten, and Karin quickly got their stuff as well. As we walked in the hallway, we passed by Ami and Kasumi. I smiled at them.

"We're heading to the bath house. Would you two like to join?" Ami and Kasumi blushed before nodding.

"We'd like that." Ami said. "We are going to take a bath as well." Yes, Ami and Kasumi had joined our group as well. There was still some negativity in the air but at least everyone was trying to be friends each other. It was still going to take some time like it did with Karin.

We finally made it to the bath house as we all got ready to soak in. Hinata had put her long purple hair into a very high left ponytail. Ino put her long blonde hair into a bun as a couple strands stuck out in the back. Tenten kept her hair in its usual buns. Karin had hers in one large bun. Ami's hair was short so she didn't have to do much with it. Kasumi's hair was made into puffy pig-tails. My hair was put into a low side bun, courtesy of Hinata. We all sighed once we got comfortable with the water.

"It's time for some girl talk!" Ino announced.

"Do we have to?" Tenten frowned.

"Heh, we'll start with you then!" Ino grinned. "So what's going on with you and Lee?"

"Lee?" Karin, Ami, and Kasumi asked. Tenten turned red and it wasn't due to the steam.

"Nothing. I like him but he doesn't like me." Tenten pouted. I frowned.

"No offense, but I think you could do better." Ami said. "For the past few years, I thought you and Neji-san had something going on between you two."

Tenten had also blushed at that. That's when the others and I stared at her in suspicion.

"You haven't been honest with us, have you?" I said as I crossed my arms and half-hearted glared at her.

"Omg! You like both Lee and Neji!" Ino laughed.

"Shut up!" Tenten said covering her face.

"I-I thought you told us that Neji was just a brother to you." Hinata said as she tilted her head to the side.

"I like both, but leaning more towards Lee." Tenten said as she pulled a Hinata and played with her fingers.

"What's wrong with Neji?" Karin asked. "He's hot."

Everyone except for Hinata agreed. She was his cousin after all.

"I can't date a guy who has better hair than mine." Tenten admitted.

"But you guys balance each other out." Kasumi said. "He's girly and you're tomboyish."

"Thanks?" Tenten said.

"The reason why Lee doesn't notice your feelings for him is because you haven't treated him in a way that leaves hints that you like him." Ino lectured. "You should come up to him and do this." Ino came up to me as she stared at me in a weird way.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked awkwardly.

"Shush, I'm trying to seduce you with my eyes. Is it working?" Ino crackled.

I rolled my eyes. "Stop messing around. I wonder if you're actually in love with me and not Shikamaru."

"At least I'm trying to help unlike you, forehead."

"Pig!" I glared.

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" Hinata asked preventing a fight that was bound to happen. "Boys can't pick up some hints."

"No offense, but you're not taking your own advice with Naruto." Tenten smiled sheepishly. Hinata blushed.

"Well it depends if she's going to go with Lee or Neji." Karin said.

"Lee." Ino said with no hesitance. "It's obvious that Neji has feelings for someone. As long as you show your feelings for Lee, he will go to you. Use this trip to get him."

What's with school trips? Is this when girls and boys look at each other differently and just start confessing to each other?

"Well how about you, Karin?" I asked.

"Yeah, are you and Suigetsu official yet?" Tenten asked.

Karin turned as red as her hair as she lowered herself further into the bath. "We made it official last night."

"LAST NIGHT?" We screamed.

"Oh you sneaky bitch you!" Ino said impressed. "I have to ask, is he good in bed? Is he big?"

"I-Ino!" Hinata said about to faint. Tenten quickly went to assist the poor girl. Ino and her pervertness, I swear.

"Not like that!" Karin screeched. "After we visited Sakura, we decided to take a walk around the resort, but not before getting some hot chocolate. We soon sat down on the porch and we began talking about random stuff until we got to the topic of us. I told him I wasn't something to play around with until he was bored. He actually got offended with that comment and kissed me. He told me he was serious about me and asked me to be his girlfriend, then and there."

The girls awed.

"Why can't Shikamaru be that sweet?" Ino pouted. "He's such a lazy-ass."

"Ino, Shikamaru went to stop your wedding just a while back. How sweeter can a guy get?" I pointed out. She blushed and stayed quiet.

"Well Ino, how are you and your boy?" Kasumi asked.

"We're doing great. We are actually getting married after high school. Since he's going to the military, we want to start our lives as soon as possible." Ino smiled gently.

"Still can't believe that lazy-ass is actually going to do something productive as the military." Tenten commented. We all laughed as we soon looked at Kasumi. I looked at her awkwardly since she was the president of the Sai-fan-club. How did she feel about him liking me? As if she knew what I was thinking, she smiled at me.

"I'm getting over Sai-kun." She said. "You don't have to worry about me. I actually like someone else right now."

"Who?" Everyone asked. Ami seemed to also not know about this sudden information.

"I met this guy named Landon."

"How did this happen?" Ami asked, raising a purple eyebrow.

"Well, it was after Tenten and the others went to go and look for Sakura. I was walking around when some guy was rushing by the hallways. As a result, I fell back down the stairs. I would have been seriously injured if it wasn't for Landon who was heading up the stairs at that moment. He caught me in his arms and yelled at the guy who pushed me. Sigh, he's so dreamy. He asked me if I was okay." The girls watched as Kasumi blushed in memory before silently squealing to herself.

"Ami?" Karin asked a bit hesitant. It was painfully obvious that this girl was the craziest fan-girl of Sasuke's up to date.

"As hard as it will be, I decided to just try and be friends with Sasuke-kun." Ami announced. Everyone waited for hell to freeze over or see if pigs were flying. Ami was going to give up on Sasuke?

"Ami…" I began to say.

"What Haruno? I'll stick to my words. He's obviously in love with you." She pointed out. "Sai and Sasuke both are. Who are you going to choose?" She soon brought the attention on to me.

"That's a good question." Karin said. "Ever since the play, I never got a chance to talk to you about that, with all the events happening and all."

"Let's not forget my cousin!" Ino added.

"Or mine!" Hinata said with a shy smile.

"What about that cute new student we had a while back. Um Hikaru, I think?" Kasumi nodded to herself.

"I'm not choosing anyone." I said with a frown. "Can we just drop it?"

"Is it because you still have feelings for that asshole?" Tenten asked.

"Who?" Karin asked confused.

"Omoi…" I said slowly. "He's my ex-boyfriend."

"Omoi?" Karin said as she looked at me in shock. "Omoi, as in the basketball captain at Cloud High Omoi?"

"Yeah…" I mumbled. "It's a long story."

"Long story short, he cheated on her and is number one on my death list." Tenten said as she crackled her knuckles.

"Did you ever contact him about Sakura's condition with that one night at Hinata's?" Ino asked.

Tenten's brown orbs widened before grinning. "Whoops, I guess I forgot."

"How did you know about him?" I asked Karin.

"How can you not? Your sons are part of the basketball team. Sasuke is the captain and Sai is co-captain. Those two hate Omoi. The whole rivalry thing, you know? They're actually supposed to go against each other next semester. Things are about to get interesting." Karin grinned.

"Like I stated before, I'm not going to choose anyone." I said in a tone that left no room for arguing. I could tell by their eyes they were asking me why. I sighed. "If I choose one, the others are going to get hurt. Besides, it's wrong. He's my son…" At that last statement, the girls looked up. I mentally slapped myself as I made it pretty obvious. They were probably narrowing their guesses to Sai, Sasuke, and Neji now.

"But you're not technically his mother. Doesn't the contract end by graduation?" Tenten asked.

"But the awkwardness and what people wi-"I was cut off by Ami.

"You shouldn't let what people think stop you from being happy, Billboard brow. If you are going to be happy being with that guy, then go for it." Ami said.

My eyes widened before I pouted. "Easier said than done."

Noticing the state I was in, we decided to change the subject.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The next day, I decided to spend the day with the boys. Karin decided to stay inside with Suigetsu for some romance time. Tenten was up in the slopes with Lee and Chouji. Ami was flirting with this guy she met while Kasumi went to check out a restaurant with Landon. So I invited Ino and Hinata to join me with my sons. Naruto decided to go ice skating, so we followed after him. Sasuke however wasn't happy about going for some reason. After we traded our shoes for the skates, we walked to the benches and got ready to put on our skates.

"I'll race you!" Naruto challenged Sai. Sai nodded as the two began to race around the large pond.

Ino and Shikamaru were happily skiing together while holding hands. Hinata was having a nice conversation with Shino and her cousin as the three were slowly skating around. However, Sasuke was sitting on the snow watching everyone. He had his skates on but made no motion to join the others. Frowning, I went and skied up to him.

"Hey, why aren't you skating with us?" I asked as I looked down at him. He glared at me.

"Don't feel like it." He said.

"Heh, don't tell me you don't know how to skate!" I teased. Hearing no response from the boy, I stared at him as I bent down to meet him at eye-level. "You do know how to skate right?" I asked.

Sasuke couldn't help but blush as my mouth dropped a bit. Seeing my reaction, he hid his face his arm that was resting on his right knee. The Sasuke Uchiha didn't know how to skate? Kneeling down in front of him, I placed my right hand on top of his head.

"Sasuke…" I began to say.

"I'm not as perfect as everyone makes me out to be. I can't do everything…" He murmured as he looked up at me. His cheeks red, from embarrassment or the cold, I had no idea.

"Why didn't you say anything when Neji handed us the skates?" I asked when I removed his hand.

"Hn…" He pouted. "…when I was little, Itachi promised to teach me how to skate, but he never did. I always wanted to learn."

I was surprised he was sharing a part of his life with me. I couldn't help but smile, which he noticed.

"Why the hell are you smiling, loser?" He asked.

"I feel like you're beginning to trust me more." I said honestly before taking his hand. "Come on, I'll teach you how."

"No! Let me go." He argued, but I wouldn't take any of it.

"Don't be such a baby, come on. Just hold my hand and follow me lead." I said as I helped him up to his feet and led him to the lake. I could feel him wobble as he gripped on to me.

"I'm going to let you go now, okay?" Before Sasuke could protest, I let him go. He tried to move to follow me but ended up falling. My smile widened as he glared at me. He turned even redder.

"Shut up. I give up." He said as he tried to move but ended up falling again.

"Sasuke, look how far you've gotten." I pointed out. He looked around to see we were practically in the middle of the lake. "You're doing a good job. You can do it. Just try again." I helped him up as he quickly latched onto me. He began to wobble once more before I grabbed him by the waist as he placed his arm over my shoulder. I blushed at how close we were, but shook my head. No, Sasuke trusted me right now. I couldn't do this, especially with Sai now looking at us. Please don't fight. Please don't fight. I looked up at Sasuke to see him smirking at Sai who was glaring back at him. To make things worse, Sasuke laced his hands with mine.

"Here we go…" I muttered as Sai skated towards us.

"Hello Sakura." Sai said with a fake smile as he grabbed my other free hand. "May I skate with you as well?"

"Like hell you will…" Sasuke growled.

"Just because you don't know how to skate doesn't mean you can take Sakura's time away from the others." Sai's smile widened as Sasuke let go of my hand in shocked.

"How did you-"

"All the brothers know, except Naruto. He's too dense to notice and believes your little lies of 'I don't like to skate' or 'I'm tired'."

"Why I ought to-"

"Enough." I growled. "If you can't get along, I'll just go to Naruto."

"I'm not sharing him with you!" Sai and Sasuke said in unison. "You're mine!"

"And I'm not an object to be fought over!" I snapped back. "So unless you guys can get along, I'll be spending the rest of the day with Naruto." Naruto soon made his way towards us.

"But you're supposed to help me!" Sasuke whined with tears in his eyes. He looked like a little kid who didn't want his mother to leave him.

"Sai can help you." I offered as Naruto came and grabbed me to skate with him.

"Thanks for saving me that night, Naruto." I said as I gave him a grateful smile. Shino, Neji, and Hinata were making their way towards us.

"Huh? What are you-"

"Naruto?" Hinata soon cried out as she had suddenly crashed onto the surprised boy. Neji's hand was parallel to the ground.

"Whoops, sorry Hinata-sama. I needed to stretch my arm." Neji said calmly. He soon turned to me. "Why don't we skate together?"

I raised an eyebrow as his random behavior but ignored it as I took his hand.

"How are you feeling now?" Neji asked as he held my hand.

"I'm fine…" I said as I looked off to the side.

"You don't seem like it." Neji said. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

I pondered at the thought. I wonder what Neji thought about all this.

"You know what's going on right?" I asked.

"If you mean the situation between you, Sai, and Sasuke, then yes. It's obvious." He said. "What's bothering you about it?"

I looked over at Sai and Sasuke who were still glaring at each other but was starting to calm down as Naruto, Shino, and Hinata were trying to help.

"Do you think it's wrong?" I asked. I soon blushed. "I mean, I'm your mother and feeling an attraction for my son seems so wrong."

"If you put it like that, yeah, it's wrong. However, you really aren't related to us at all and we still feel like family." Neji said. "I'll admit I'm attracted to you."

My green eyes widened as I stared at Neji in shocked. SAY WHAT? How can he say that like it wasn't embarrassing?

"But I'm not in love with you like those two idiots are. I'm able to see that you'd never like me that way. I accept that, we can only treat each other like a true mother/son relationship if not just good friends. Just let me advise you to choose quickly. I have this feeling something bad is going to result from this in the New Year."

"You had Tenten use her tarot cards, didn't you?" I said with a smirk.

"Just watching out for my family. I am the oldest son after all." Neji smirked back. "I'm going to head back inside." He said as he ruffled my hair before walking away.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

The trip ended with no more problems. I, for one, was glad to be home. Tsunade had lectured us again for the fighting and embarrassing our school's name. But I could now start on my mother goal which was to get everyone's handprints without them knowing. How the heck am I supposed to do that? My sons all entered the house first, leaving me to thank Kakashi for dropping us off. As he drove off, I couldn't help but notice this black Lamborghini with a small fan on the front right side of the car. The top part of the fan was red while the bottom was white. The driver looked at me intensely. He drove up as he slowed down when he got near me. When we made I contact, his eyes widened. He quickly stopped and I can see him about to get out of the car. Before he did, Sasuke came out of the house.

"Oi, do you want to make dinner or eat out?" Sasuke asked. I didn't answer as I watched the car screech away. Before Sasuke could even see the car, it left a lot of smoke from the screeching as we began to cough.

"What the fuck?" Sasuke glared at the car. He soon grabbed me by the waist. "Don't go out by yourself. There are crazy people out there. Knowing you, you'll get into trouble. That guy looked like he was about to kidnap you, idiot."

I continued to look at the direction the car went. There was something about that guy that bugged me, but I don't know what it was.

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**Bonus Story: **

"I don't talk to idiots." The dark handsome 12 year-old said as he glared at the blonde idiot number 1 and the pale idiot number 2. The fourth son was just watching the scene with a lazy expression.

Minato sighed as he watched the four kids he adopted fight in the living room. Sasuke sounded just like the late Fugaku back when they were in high school. Mikoto left on the will that her best friend would be the one to take care of Sasuke and Itachi if anything were to happen to her husband and herself. He had just taken Sasuke in two weeks ago. He took Shikamaru in the other day when his parents died in a car accident. Their parents were his best friends from high school.

"HUH? Teme! I just asked if you wanted to play basketball." Naruto shouted as he glared at the asshole boy that his step father adopted. Sai was silent as he clung onto Minato's jeans. Shikamaru let out a yawn.

"I don't like him." Sai muttered to Minato while looking at Sasuke.

"You guys are family now." Minato said breaking the fight between his real son and his best friend's son. "You shouldn't be fighting."

"This guy has a serious problem." Naruto frowned. "I was just trying to be nice, but he has a long stick up his a-"

"Naruto." Minato said in a tone signaling him to obey. "Sasuke needs to learn how to adapt to his new surroundings. He just lost his family. Give him some time to take in everything." Minato ruffled the boy's hair. "I'm going to go get some groceries. So Sai, you'll be in charge of the house until I get back." He said slowly pulling away from the pale boy. "I want you to take care of your brothers since you're the oldest. Don't let me down." Sai gave him a hesitant nod as his new father figure smiled with reassurance.

When the door clicked, Naruto and Sasuke went back to fighting.

"I don't like you right now." Naruto frowned.

"Glad we're in the same page." Sasuke answered before walking away.

"This is so troublesome." Shikamaru said. "Just let it go." For a boy who just lost his parents, he was kind of calmed about it.

"Ugh, I thought we were best friends!" Naruto cried in frustration before kicking the nearest thing next to him with was the table holding up the very wide and heavy TV. Before any of the boys knew it, the TV had fallen on the unfortunate blonde. The weight of the TV began to squish his small body.

"Naruto!" Sai called out in fear as he tried to move the TV. It was no use. The TV was squishing Naruto's head, his face turning red due to the pressure. Sai immediately tried to push the TV off the poor boy but it was no use. He wasn't strong enough. Shikamaru had rushed from his seat to help as well. Nothing.

"SASUKE!" Sai called out for him. "SASUKE! HELP!"

Sasuke ran into the room to see what was going on. His eyes widened as he immediately went to help Sai and Shikamaru push the TV off Naruto.

"Naruto, hang on idiot! If you die, I'll never forgive you!" Sasuke said with tears in his eyes.

"On the count of three, push with all you got!" Sai said. Sasuke and Shikamaru nodded as Sai counted down.

"One!" Sai steadied himself as he got ready to push.

"Two!" Sasuke had a determined look on his face.

"THREE!" The TV moved up with enough time for Shikamaru to pull Naruto out from under. The TV crashed on the floor once Sai and Sasuke had let go of the object.

Shikamaru quickly checked on Naruto to see him have a large purple bruise on his face. His right side of his face was all smashed up.

"Naruto, can you breathe?" He asked.

"My uce urts ik ell." Naruto cried.

"Shizune!" Sai called out as she appeared on the scene.

"Oh my! Naruto-kun, what happened?" She questioned as she immediately got into medic mode.

"The TV fell on him." Sasuke answered. "Is he okay?"

"We need to check his face for any fractures to the bone and any blood clots. But to me, he seems fine. Just some pain killers and time to recuperate and he will be as good as new." I'll go make the appointment right now with Tsunade-sama." With that said, Shizune had disappeared from the scene.

Naruto was crying as he was trying to wipe his tears away. Shikamaru noticed this and went up to the boy.

"Do you feel any pain?"

Naruto shook his head as he pulled each of the three shocked boys into a group hug.

"Ank you. Ou aved my life." Naruto said as he cringed from moving his mouth.

Minato came home a couple minutes later to take poor Naruto into the hospital. He just hoped this injured would cause his son to become stupid when he's older.

X

X

X

**Haha this bonus story is actually based on a true story with me, my sister, and my brother. He kicked the table that was holding the TV when I made him mad and it fell on him. I tried to push the tv off him but I wasn't strong enough so I called my sister for help, who then called my dad. My brother ended up with a swollen right face. I felt so bad, but when my sister and I look back at the moment, we laugh. Anyways, more SasuSaku action for the fans out there. I know I have been neglecting this pairing in the story. There is a reason for that, which will all be explained in later chapters. I hoped you guys liked it. Review everyone. It will make me very happy.**


	32. Mother goal number 8

**ARE MY EYES DECEIVING ME? DID I ACTUALLY UPDATE? Yes, yes I did. I'm so sorry for taking forever to update this story. First off, I lost my notebook that had all my ideas for this story, so I tried to remember what I wrote and there was other stuff too. I hope you guys don't hate me for not updating as quickly as I wanted to. IM SO SORRY! I tried to make this chapter as long as I could. Enjoy.**

**Sakura Kiss**

"Temari!" Kankuro growled. "How long are Gaara and I going to be your slaves until you finish your Christmas shopping?"

The Sabaku siblings were out doing their Christmas shopping at Leaf Fashion Show Mall, an outdoor and inside mall that was four stories tall. Temari has been at it for four hours and it was almost dinner time. Kankuro's stomach was growling while Gaara was just tired of carrying the bags. They had finished going through the stores inside and were now going outside.

Temari turned around and glared at her brothers. "Not until I find the perfect gift for Sakura. She's the last person I need to get a gift for and then we're done. So shut the fuck up and just do what you're told."

People giggled at the trio as they passed by. Kankuro sighed. "Man, someone must be on their period."

Temari heard the comment as she went to turn around and yell at her brother once more. It was at the moment when workers that were fixing a glass window above for the store they were going to pass had dropped the glass and was heading towards Temari.

"Temari!" Gaara called out as Temari looked up in shocked to see the glass aiming for her. She raised her arms over her head as she screamed while closing her eyes. Before she knew it, someone had grabbed her by the waist and moved her away from the glass as it shattered onto the snowy ground. She could feel some of the cold snow fall down her jacket. People had run to the site as they began to talk about what happened.

"We're so sorry!" The workers from above yelled. "No one is hurt, right?"

Temari could feel the person on top of her move as he began to breathe angrily.

"Like seriously? Get down here and apologize better bastards! She could have easily gotten hurt or fucking killed." Temari's savior shouted back to the worker above. Temari looked up to see a very handsome man with medium length silver hair slicked back with distinctive purple eyes. He looked familiar. She couldn't help but blush as the man helped her up to her feet after having him hover over her on the ground.

"Thanks…" Temari said as she looked to the side. Why the hell did her face feel so hot? She usually felt this way around Shino, but he was sadly taken now. The workers came down and bowed down to apologize to Temari and her savior. He had bonked the workers on the head before tell them to scram.

"I didn't want a pretty girl like you to get hurt." He said as he gave her a sexy smirk. "You look familiar. Have we met before?"

"I'm not sure." Temari said. "But I'm Temari. Temari Sabaku." She said as she stuck out her hand.

"Hidan Terasoma." He said as he shook her hand. "Shit, aren't your friends with pinkie? Sakura?"

Temari's eyes widened at his colorful words. He seemed to like to cuss a lot, but that was what made him hotter to her. "I think we met at her Thanksgiving dinner and the school play."

At the words of school play, Hidan noticed Gaara and smirked. "Hey rabbit? Running late?" Gaara glared at him as Kankuro smirked. "Well, I have to go. See you around, I guess." Hidan said as he waved his hand back. Kankuro and Gaara soon went up to their sister.

"Are you okay sis?" Kankuro asked. Gaara and Kankuro noticed the pink hue on Temari's face as she raised a hand to lips and let out a girlish giggle. Uh oh.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

It was the second Friday of December as I just finished making dinner for my sons. Sasuke and Naruto were arguing like usual. Shikamaru and Neji were playing shogi. Shino was on the couch quietly reading a book about entomology while Sai sat next to him drawing.

"Dinner is ready!" I announced as the boys entered the dining room and sat down. I sat at the head of the table while Shikamaru was on my left followed by Naruto and Sai. To my right were Sasuke, Neji, and then Shino.

"What's for dinner?" Naruto asked. "Is it ramen?"

"Idiot, we had ramen yesterday for you." Neji grumbled. Naruto glared at his oldest brother and stuck his tongue out at him.

"We are actually going to have herring soba for Neji today." I smiled at him.

"How did you know I like this dish?" Neji asked as he sniffed the delicious plate in front of him.

"Hinata and the others told me what you guys liked and didn't like." I said. As I looked down the hall, I saw the frames where I was supposed to get the boys handprints. Soon, an idea came to me.

"I bet you guys couldn't be able to eat this blindfolded." I said.

"You bet I can Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted. He took the bait. My sons put on blindfolds as I took out the orange frame for Naruto.

"IT'S SO HARD?" Naruto complained as he slapped his right hand on the table. I growled. I missed that chance.

"That's what she said." Everyone soon froze as I looked at Shino in shock. Did he just say that? I started to laugh while everyone had a smirk or let out a chuckle.

"DID SHINO JUST MAKE A JOKE?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Shut up dobe." Sasuke growled as he was having difficulty eating as well.

"You shut up Teme!" Naruto shouted back as he raised his hand to hit the table again. I quickly slid the frame under his hand as he hit the clay. "Eh? What is this?" Naruto asked as he went to remove the blindfold. I quickly grabbed the frame and ran out of the room.

I began to crack up evilly. One son down, five more to go. My cell phone rang as I put the frame down to answer it.

"FOREHEAD! SLEEPOVER AT YOUR PLACE NOW!" Ino practically screamed on the phone.

"What? What's going on?" I asked.

"Tell you about it later! We'll be over in five seconds." Ino said before hanging up the phone. As she said, in five seconds, the door bell rang as I went to open it. Ino had flung herself onto me. Since she was taller than me, my nose bumped into her neck.

"Hello Sakura-chan." Hinata said as she went to hug me like a normal person. I hugged her back as Karin came up to me next and gave me an awkward one-handed hug. She was still getting use to being friendly to people. Tenten and Temari soon came up and gave me hugs as well.

"Do I smell soba?" Karin asked.

I nodded. "I decided to make Neji's favorite food for dinner since we had ramen for Naruto yesterday."

"You're really taking your mother role seriously." Tenten teased. I rolled my eyes before closing the door. I offered them dinner which they accepted.

"Move over boys!" Ino ordered as the girls brought in more chairs from the other room. Ino sat between Shikamaru and Hinata who sat next to Naruto. Karin sat across from me while Tenten and Temari sat between Shino and Neji.

"What are you girls doing here?" Naruto asked as he pointed a finger at Temari. He and the others had taken their blindfolds off a couple minutes ago.

"Naruto, calm down." I said while trying to soothe him as I got up to get more plates for the girls.

"You keep hogging Sakura!" Temari said as she glared at him playfully. "She lives with you and you go to school with her. Tenten and I barely see her anymore." Naruto stuck his tongue out at the tough looking girl.

"It's because she likes me bet-"Naruto didn't finish as Temari stuffed his mouth with more soba.

Dinner went smoothly after that. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. The boys decided to stay in the living room while I took the girls to my room. I banned Ino from sneaking into Shikamaru's room late at night. The girls placed their sleeping mats out while we got ready for our girl time.

"So what is all this about?" I asked as I helped Hinata take out all the nail polish and facial stuff.

"TEMARI IS IN LOVE!" The girls squealed while I looked to the girl in question. I've known Temari for a while. She never had a look on her face like she did now. She was blushing yet glowing at the same time. She looked pretty girly at the moment and knowing Ino, she was going to take advantage of it.

"With who?" I asked.

"That's the thing." Tenten began to say. "She hasn't told any of us yet. She said she wanted to wait until all of us got together."

We all looked to her as she began to pull a Hinata and played with her fingers. "His name is Hidan…"

All of our eyes widened. "Hidan?" Ino said shocked.

"You mean the member of the Akatsuki?" Tenten and Hinata asked.

"The foul-mouth one?" Karin asked as she fixed her glasses.

"My brother's friend?" I asked.

She nodded as we all tried to take this one in.

"I-I thought you still liked Shino…" Hinata commented. Temari flipped some of her wavy hair over her shoulder.

"Shino is a thing in the past. He's taken anyways, so what's the point." Temari said.

"How did this happen?" I asked. Temari had that love-struck look on her face as she told us the story of how Hidan had saved her earlier today at the mall. We all awed at the story.

"That's it. We're going to help you get your man!" Karin stated as she had a confident smile on her face. Ino agreed as she and Karin high-fived each other.

"Now, let's get your prettier." Hinata said. "Not that you already aren't."

My smile fell as I looked down to my hands. Everyone seemed to have someone they want. Ino had Shikamaru. Hinata had Naruto. Karin had Suigetsu. Tenten had Lee and Temari now had Hidan. I still couldn't even make up my mind with Sai and Sasuke. They were both special people in my heart that was for sure. But to take the space that once belonged to Omoi, I don't think I could give it away only to get hurt again.

As if Ino could hear my thoughts, she came up to me and put an arm around my shoulders. "Don't think I forgot about you, forehead."

"What are you talking about, pig?" I asked cautiously.

"You should really go for Sasuke or my cousin, Deidara." Ino said.

"If you haven't forgotten Ino, your dad hates Sakura. Having Sakura become family would be his worst nightmare." Tenten commented. "Besides, I thought Neji would be good for her."

"Psh, how about Kiba?" Temari added. "He's really nice."

"Sai isn't a bad choice either." Hinata spoke up. Karin nodded her head.

"Are we going over this again?" I sighed, shaking my head.

**XxXxXxXxX**

The boys were sitting in the living room staring at the TV but not really paying attention.

"I wonder what's got the girls so excited…" Naruto asked out loud, catching the attention of his brothers.

"Women are troublesome, Naruto. To keep sane, a man should never try to understand a woman's mind." Shikamaru said as he yawned. It had been a couple hours since the girls went upstairs. To be honest, he was curious to see what his girlfriend was excited about.

Neji got up and went to the kitchen. After a couple minutes, he came back with a tray carrying six glasses full of juice and a few plates of snacks. "I'll go bring this up to the girls."

As Neji walked up to Sakura's room, he could hear Ino and Karin squealing. Shaking his head, he was about to knock, when he heard Ino speak.

"Now then! Shall we get started?" Ino asked. He figured that Ino was looking to Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata because Hinata soon spoke.

"Why are you looking at me, Tenten, and Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked worried.

"I hereby open Ino's romantic advice consultation office for business!"

"WHAT!" Sakura raised her voice. "I thought this was supposed to be about Temari!"

"Well, in order to devote yourself to Temari's problems, you three must first open up about your love problems. Problems will hold you back from helping Temari." Karin said.

"W-Well, I guess that makes sense." Hinata said.

"So why aren't you and that idiot together yet?" Temari asked.

Neji couldn't help but roll his eyes. The answer was obvious. Hinata is too shy to confess and Naruto is an idiot.

"T-To be honest, I always thought that Naruto-kun liked Sakura-chan." Hinata said.

"But Hinata, I already told you that I only liked Naruto as a friend. He's like a brother to me, even though I'm his mother." Neji smirked at the tone Sakura had when she said mother.

"I-I know that now. But before, I couldn't help it. When I found out that you were living the Naruto-kun and the others, I was jealous. You're so beautiful Sakura-chan. You're brave, strong, smart, and compared to me, I'm nothing."

"Well there's nothing to worry in that department." Karin said as she waved her hand. She knew who already captured Sakura's heart. It was painfully obvious. She wondered if the girls knew and were just playing stupid, or they honestly couldn't tell. Sai made it obvious he liked her too back on the snow trip.

"What do you mean?" The girls asked.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that Sai is the object of Sakura's affections!" Karin said happily and loudly. Neji's eyes widened as he couldn't help but take a step back. As he did, the cups clinked with each other.

**XxXxXxXxX**

My eyes widened as I heard the sound from outside the hallway. Acting quickly, I jumped and opened the door. Looking around I saw no one. I let go of the breath I was holding as I tried to calm my heart down. Gripping to the handle tightly, I began to close the door. "That's enough. One of my sons could hear you!"

**XxXxXxXxX**

Hearing the door close, Neji let go of the breath he was holding. He had hid behind the door when Sakura opened it. He couldn't believe what he had heard. Sakura was in love with Sai? Karin could have been over thinking things, but Sakura didn't even deny what she had said. So it was probably true.

But Sai? He knew Sai had feelings for Sakura as well. But was it because he truly liked her or because Sakura reminded him of Raiko? They both had the same eyes and acted similar if you thought about it. Waiting for a couple more minutes, he knocked on the door. Sakura opened the door.

"I brought you ladies some snacks. The guys will be downstairs playing video games if you need anything." Neji said as he handed the tray to Sakura. He watched as Sakura gave him a smile.

"Thank you. We'll try to keep it down for you guys."

When Neji headed to the living room, he sighed. Things were about to get more complicated around here. He saw Sasuke getting up as he passed by him. "Where are you going?" Neji asked his brother.

"Going to bed, my eyes are hurting." Sasuke answered.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

I sighed as I heard Neji walked away. That was a close call. A few minutes early and Neji would have heard Karin's comment.

"You know Sakura, you didn't really deny that." Karin smirked. I pouted as I went to my bed and grabbed onto a green stuffed dinosaur.

"Omg, you still have that?" Ino asked as she went up to me and grabbed my plush.

"What is that?" Tenten asked.

"This doll was given to Sakura by her first love!" Hinata said with a happy sigh.

"Omoi gave you this?" Temari glared at the poor dinosaur.

"No!" I said shaking my head. "When I was little, the day I met Chouji, Sasori was supposed to pick me up, but he never came. Iruka-sensei was kind enough to walk me home. Sasori felt bad and took me out for the day. He bought me this cute stuff rabbit and then treated me out to ice cream. Then, I met this boy who was with his older brother and his friend."

"Was he cute?" Karin asked.

I laughed as I shrugged. "I don't even remember what those three look like. It was a long time ago. Anyways, he tried to steal my toy and we ended up ripping it in half. I started to cry and so did he. His friend cried with us as well. His older brother had to chase after him when he ran out of the store. The next day, I was waiting for Sasori to pick me up when the same boy came up to me. He gave me this stuff animal as a way of apologizing about what happened yesterday and then he kissed me on the cheek."

The girls squealed. "That' so romantic!" Tenten said. "So you never met him again?"

"No." I said with a sad smile. "I resigned out of the school before I could know who that boy was."

"You know what would be more romantic?" Ino asked.

"What?" I raised an eye brow as her.

"If the two of you met again and fell in love." Ino said with a large grin on her face.

"Oh please Ino. That would never happen." I got up to go put the trays away when the door opened.

"Oh Sasuke!" Hinata greeted. Sasuke nodded his head as I turned around. I wonder if he heard that embarrassing story because he was staring at the dinosaur in Ino's arms.

"Sasuke?" I said waving a hand in front of him. That seemed to get him back in reality as he took the tray from my hands.

"I'll put them away for you." He said, leaving no room for me to argue. I sighed until I remembered the frames outside of my room. I ran to grab them and brought them all back into my room.

"What's this?" Tenten asked.

"My next mother goal. I need to get all of my sons' hand prints on the frames. I already got Naruto's."

"That sounds pretty easy." Karin noted. I shook my head.

"I have to do it without them noticing."

"Leave Shikamaru to me. I'll have to be in his room though." Ino said. "While I distract him, someone will go and get his hand print."

"Fine." I frowned at her. She found a loophole to my rule of tonight.

When I was sure the boys were in their rooms, Ino played her part and sneaked into Shikamaru's room while we sent Hinata in to get the handprint. I had no idea what happened in that room. All I know was that Hinata came out of the room red as a cherry.

That left four sons now. Tenten said she had a good idea on how to get Neji. We went downstairs and made curry. What curry had to do with Neji, I had no idea. We then went to Neji's room as we offered him some. I was surprised to see his eyes widen in fear as he turned white before fainting. I quickly got Neji's frame and got his hand print. Temari made it her mission by threatening to destroy Shino's ant farm or something like that. Shino was so into his lecture about his pets, he didn't realize Temari had taken his hand print. Now all we had left was Sasuke and Sai. The girls met back in my room as we tried to think of a way to get the last two hand prints.

"Good job girls." I praised as I patted Ino's left shoulder. "Now all we need left is Sasuke's and Sai's."

"How are you going to get them?" Hinata asked as she played with a couple strands of her hair.

I opened my mouth to say something but stopped. I had no idea. I slumped down to ground as I looked up at my friends. "Have any ideas?"

"You're the brainiac around here. If you have no clue, we don't either." Temari commented as she frowned.

I frowned as well while trying to think of a plan. It soon hit me! "I'll just knock them out and then take their hand prints!"

"And how are you gonna do that," Tenten asked. "…With your fists?" She teased. I playfully glared at her.

"No. I'm going to cook up something to knock them out long enough for me to finish." I soon grabbed the book that Tsunade had written a long time ago as I went to the chapter that I was reading.

"Is that Tsunade on the back cover?" Karin asked as she fixed her glasses to get a better look.

"Sakura wants to be a doctor like Tsunade. I-It's her lifetime goal to train under her." Hinata smiled.

"Ah ha! Found it!" I said as I rushed to the kitchen to gather the ingredients.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Sasuke stared at the drink I held in my hands as I stood outside of his room.

"What the hell is it?" He asked as he hesitantly took the drink in his hand.

"It's this health drink I learned from Tsunade's book. Uh, I made too much so I want you to take one." I smiled innocently.

"What does it do?" He asked me as he opened his room a bit more for me to come inside. I took in the dark blue walls and white carpet. It was a typical guy room. There was a guitar on the right side of the room next to the window. His bed had a white set with red pillows. There were two side tables, one with a digital clock and another with a lamp. He sat on the side of his bed as I took a seat on his chair in front of the computer.

"Uh, Naruto told me you have trouble sleeping for some reason, so I thought this would help. The girls are having trouble sleeping as well. That's why we made this drink." I lied through my teeth.

"Whatever." He said as he drank it. He handed me back the cup as I placed it on the desk and went back to watching his reaction. His eyes began to get droopy as he tried to fight it. Before he knew it, he was out. I smirked as I texted Karin to bring in the frame. Grabbing Sasuke's hand, I placed his hand against the cold clay. His hand left a print as I soon removed it. I handed the frame back to Karin as I smiled. One down, one more to go.

Hinata handed me the last cup for Sai as I went to his room. Knocking on the door, Sai opened it. I fought the blush that was coming when he opened the door shirtless.

"What it is, hag?" Sai asked. I glared at him before handing him the cup.

"I-I made too much, so I was hoping you guys want some." I said. I mentally slapped myself. Why the heck was I stuttering?

Sai raised an eyebrow before making room for me to enter his room. I slowly walked in as he closed the door behind him. I gulped. I was feeling nervous now. What the heck was wrong with me? It was just Sai. Some guy I shouldn't find attractive, that's all. It was a silly crush that shouldn't and wouldn't get serious.

To stop myself from freaking out, I looked around his room. The smell of art entered my nose. His room was similar to his in the summer home. There were paintings on his grey walls. Next to the large balcony he had was a canvas. It was blank but I saw unfinished works around it. The garbage can was filled up with crumbled paper as well.

While I looked around, Sai took a seat next to me, the cup in his left hand. He soon handed it to me. I raised an eyebrow at his actions.

"What?" I asked.

"Drink it first." He said. "You might be trying to poison me or something." He soon let out a chuckle.

My heart began to beat fast. Due to him being right on point or hearing him chuckle, I had no idea. Stupid heart of mine, I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!

To prove that he wasn't right, I took the cup and took a sip. As long as I didn't drink more than I did, I wouldn't turn out like Sasuke did. Hopefully Sai would drink it now. He seemed content with how I drank it, so he took the cup back and finished the drink 2/3 of the way.

"You finish the rest." He said as he gave the cup back to me. I paled. Seriously? He must have noticed my hesitation because he brought his face closer to mine. "Is something wrong?"

I quickly shook my head. "Nothing! Nothing is wrong!" I said as I took the cup and finished it. I noticed it took Sai five minutes later than Sasuke to feel sleepy. I began to feel the effects as well. I quickly texted Ino to come into Sai's room and take his hand print in a few minutes.

"I'm sleepy…" Sai said as he lied back on his bed before closing his eyes. I soon lied down as well while trying to fight the sleepiness from coming. Before knocking out, I saw Ino coming in with Hinata. Hinata had a camera.

"S-Sorry Sakura-chan, but this moment is too cute to pass up." Hinata said.

All I saw was a flash before letting the darkness take over.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

When I woke up again, I saw noticed I was in Sai's room still. I quickly got up as my face turned red. I tried to remember what happened when I knocked out. My eyes widened. Ino and Hinata were here earlier. Those bitches left me here!

I quickly got up without disturbing Sai who was still sleeping. I noted how cute he was when he was sleeping and when his troublesome mouth wasn't open. I shook my head at the thought as I quietly left his room, but not without the cup.

"Do I want to even know why you're sneaking out of Sai's room?" A voice said as I jumped. I turned around to see Naruto in the hallway.

"Oh, Naruto! You scared me." I said as I let out an awkward laugh.

"What were you doing in Sai's room?" He asked with a smirk while wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Pervert!" I said as I shoved him playfully. "I was, uh, just seeing if you guys left any dishes for me to clean. I was just about to go into your room." I said while showing him a cup.

"No! It's okay Sakura-chan. If there are any dishes in my room, I'll take them out myself." He said quickly before running to his room. Oh odd. I soon went to my room where the girls were waiting for me.

"Welcome back Sakura!" The girls greeted me. I looked at the clock to see it was already ten. So an hour went back while I was sleeping. I soon glared at Ino and Hinata who just grinned back.

"I have to admit…" Temari began to say as she was holding a camera. "You and Sai do look cute together."

"EH?" I said as I flew to her and looked at what she was looking at. Hinata took a picture of me and Sai sleeping. Before anyone could stop me, I deleted it.

"That's alright Forehead. Hinata and I made sure to make copies. One for all of us, one for Tsunade, Konan, Shizune…" Ino began to make a list of people.

"Dude, cut off Sakura from the picture and we could sell this picture of Sai to the second and first years. We'll be rolling in dough before we know it." Karin said.

"No!" I said. "I'm not going to do that to Sai."

"I'd like to buy a copy." Someone said. We all turned to see Shizune sitting on my bed. I swear, how does she appear out of nowhere?

Tenten quickly went up to Shizune with a copy of the picture as Shizune handed her a $10. Shizune placed a hand against her cheek as she smiled. "Sakura, you are so adorable!"

I turned pink. "What do you want?" I asked.

"Oh, right. You completed your mother goal. So it is time for the next one." Shizune announced. Everyone leaned in, to listen to the next mother goal. "Mother Goal number 9: have the sons all participate for Christmas." She soon walked up to the frames as she stacked them all up. "I'll go place these in the living room. Have a nice night girls."

Christmas was coming up in two weeks. This mother goal shouldn't be too hard right?

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Sasuke turned on his light on his side table. Seeing that green dinosaur brought too many memories. That would act as a catalyst to his nightmares tonight. Opening the drawer, he took out a picture of his family when he was four. He was holding onto the same green dinosaur that Sakura now had in her possession. He looked at his parents with sadness. His mother, Mikoto, was hugging her kids with. His father, Fugaku, was staring at his family with such happiness as he had an arm wrapped around Mikoto's. He then looked at the last person on the picture. Itachi was nine in the picture. He was holding his younger self in his arms. Itachi was looking at him with such brotherly love, Sasuke wanted to cry. Why? Why did things turn out the way it did.

"Itachi, why?" Sasuke said as he lowered his head and clutched onto the picture.

X

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**Bonus story: Love letter**

Sakura watched as Sasori was walking up to her and her mother. They decided to pick Sasori up from elementary school. Before Sakura could run up to her brother, a pretty girl had come up to Sasori, handing him a card.

"Oh my!" Hana said as she brought a hand to her mouth.

"Momma, iz it Sasowi-nii burtday?" The three year old asked as she held onto her mother's light blue skirt.

"No dear. Sasori is getting a love note." Hana corrected.

"Wuv note?" Sakura repeated, tilting her head to the side.

"Yes, that's what a girl or guy give to someone they love very much." Sakura's eyes widened as Sasori had taken the note and bowed to the girl. He must have said something because the girl frowned, but then gave him a smile before bowing back as well. She soon walked away to her friends who were patting her back. Sakura continued to watch the girl walk away.

"Sakura?" Sakura looked up to see her brother surprised to see her.

"Sasowi-nii!" Sakura said as she ran to her brother. He lifted her up into his arms. He spun them around a few times as she giggled.

"We came to pick you up from school." Hana said as she smiled at the interaction. How cute.

When the trio arrived home, Sakura ran to her room as she pulled out paper from a box. She began to draw a picture of her and Sasori, her favorite person in the world. Her parents had coming in very close after.

XxXxXxXxX

Hana had awakened from her nap the next day. It was around noon and Daisuke had headed to work while Sasori was in school. She remembered falling asleep while Sakura was drawing in the living room. Looking around, her daughter was nowhere to be found.

Sakura was on an adventure to her brother's school. She had her yellow back pack with the letter she wanted to give to Sasori tied to her side.

"Oh well if it isn't Sakura Haruno. Where are you going by yourself?" A woman asked. Sakura remembered her as the lady who owned a flower shop a few blocks down.

"Sasowi school." Sakura grinned before continuing to walk ahead.

"Oh, well be careful!" She called out as the cute child turned the corner.

Sakura soon arrived to the crosswalk as cars drove by fast. Soon a tall man with long raven hair and pale skin stood next to her. After he fixed his suit, his golden eyes moved down to the pink-haired child next to him. His eyes widened in recognition but said nothing. Instead, he lifted the child by her backpack and carried her to the other side of the street. People in their cars watched the weird scene in front of them.

When Sakura felt her feet touch the ground, she waved goodbye to the nice stranger before continuing her way to her brother's school. After a good few minutes, all sweaty and tired, Sakura let out a smile. She finally made it to her brother's school.

"Hey look!" A guy said. Sakura watched as two boys came up to her. The first guy had short spiky brown hair with blue eyes.

"She's cute." The other said. He had long blond hair and green eyes.

"What's your name?" The first guy asked.

"Sakuwa Hawuno!" Sakura smiled.

"Hawuno?" The second guy repeated.

"Ryosuke, you're stupid! She meant Haruno! She's Sasori's sister." The first guy said.

"Shut up Yosuke! I knew that!" Ryosuke said. "Come on, we'll take you to your brother. He should be getting out of class for lunch soon." He lifted Sakura onto his back as she clung on to him. His blond hair began to tickle her nose.

After a few minutes, the trio arrived in front of a class. As they did, the bell rang. Students left the class in a hurry as Sakura was set down to the ground. She tried to find her brother through the crowd. A boy had knocked Sakura to the ground, her letter rolling away from her. Sakura was helped up by Yosuke as she finally saw her brother. He was with another girl this time. She, too, had given Sasori a letter.

"Why does he get all the girls?" Ryosuke muttered. "He barely shows any emotions."

Sakura's little hand went to reach for her letter and frowned. Looking down, her letter was nowhere to be found. Looking back up at her brother, she watched as Sasori politely took the letter.

"_Momma, iz it Sasowi-nii burtday?" The three year old asked as she held onto her mother's light blue skirt._

"_No dear. Sasori is getting a love note." Hana corrected._

"_Wuv note?" Sakura repeated, tilting her head to the side._

"_Yes, that's what a girl or guy gives to someone they love very much."_

Sakura's eyes became watery as she began to cry, scaring Ryosuke and Yosuke. Sasori had looked around and saw his in tears with two of his classmates next to her. Ignoring the girl next to him, he ran to his sister and brought her into his arms. He soon glared at the two guys.

"What did you do to her?" Sasori growled. Ryosuke was shocked to see Sasori show emotions. It was actually quiet scary. Sasori felt Sakura shake her head.

"I-I wanted to gip Sasowi-nii letter." Sakura cried.

"Letter?" Sasori questioned.

"She must have meant this letter." Sasori looked up to see Hana next to them with a letter in her hands. She squatted down and looked at her two children. "Sakura-chan, is this what you wanted to give Sasori?"

Sakura looked up at the letter in her mother's hand as she nodded. Wiping her tears away, Sakura took the letter and handed it to Sasori.

"What is this Sakura?" Sasori asked as he took the letter and opened it. It was a stick figure drawn picture of him and Sakura. He was in red and Sakura in pink. There was picture of a sun behind them and flowers. The thing that stuck out the most was the large heart behind the two stick people.

"She wanted to give you a love letter." Hana smirked as she whispered that to Sasori.

Sasori couldn't help but turn pink. He soon carried Sakura in his arms as he kissed her forehead. "I love you too Sakura."

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**PHEW! Why was this chapter so hard to write? Again, I apologize for the really really REALLY late update. Like I said, I lost my binder with all my ideas for this story so I had to remember. *CRIES* Also, I've been going through stuff and had school. To make up for the late update, I tried to make this chapter as long as I could. I hoped you all enjoyed it. Please review and wait for my next update.**

**Love, Kumiko**


	33. Youthful Cafe Is Here To Stay

Hello my wonderful readers, here is the next chapter of this story. I made this longer and full of excitement just for you! I hope you guys enjoy. Don't forget to review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the songs used in this chapter.

**Sakura Kiss**

I knew today something weird was going to happen when I saw that it was snowing hard this morning. It had been a day since the girls had slept over. I heard non-stop knocking on the door. Looking at my clock, it was six in the morning. Yawning, I put on a jacket to cover myself and went to open the door.

"SAKURA-SAN!" Lee cried as he was on his knees in front of the door.

"L-Lee?" I said shocked as I let him in the house while brushing the snow off him. I quickly made tea to warm him up as I started the fire in the living room.

I took in his depressed form as he muttered thanks. I placed a blanket over him as I took a seat next to him.

"Lee, what's wrong? Why are you at my house so early?" I asked. I was tired and my warm bed was calling me to come back. It really was too early in the morning for Lee's antics right now.

"Oh, Sakura-san! It's horrible! The Youthful Café…it's….it's…" He began to cry even more.

"What's happening to the Youthful Café?" I asked, being truly worried now.

"It's getting bought by some guy. I haven't been able to hit the monthly targets. Now, they want to buy the café off me." He wailed. I handed him some tissue.

"I'm so sorry Lee! That's terrible! Where has the money you've earned gone?" I questioned. Shoot, he had a huge jar of tips for me. I thought his café was doing very good.

"Well, most of the money goes to run the store. Then it goes to our friends' paychecks. Some for my college and Gai-sensei's expenses as well. As you know I lost my parents when I was born so I was on my own by the age of 13. I have to pay for all those bills. Gai took me in but he has his own stuff to pay as well, which is why we created the Youthful Café. The rest goes to you, Sakura-san." Lee said. "I promised myself I would help you in your time of need." He pulled out a large sack of money. "This is for you to help you pay back Namikaze's kindness."

"Oh Lee…" I said as I face-palmed. I handed him back the sack. "Use that for your business."

"But I saved this for you." He argued with a pout. I instantly felt touched.

"It was really sweet of you Lee, but I'd rather do all the mother goals then have your café go out of business." I said.

"Even with this, there's still not enough money to run the business." Lee said as he lowered his head. "I don't know what to do Sakura-san."

I pouted while thinking what I could do to help Lee. It soon got to me.

"Why don't you have a group meeting?" I suggested. "Sixteen heads are better than one."

And that's how the morning started when my sons came downstairs surprised. Everyone was in the kitchen while the girls and I were making breakfast.

"WHAT IS EVERYONE DOING HERE?" Naruto screamed as he pointed at everyone. I slapped him behind the head.

"It's rude to point at people, you idiot." I grumbled.

"Why is everyone in our home?" Sasuke asked. Shino had informed me that they woke up early because they heard noises downstairs. I looked at the clock in the kitchen. It was seven in the morning. They usually don't wake up until 8-9. I paled. Neji was weird in the morning. I hoped he didn't do anything today. Before I knew it, I felt pressure on my right shoulder. Neji had rested his head on my shoulder.

"Why is it so loud?" He mumbled against my skin. I shivered because it began to tickle me.

"I'm sorry Neji! It was my idea to invite everyone from the café here. We have something to talk about." I said as I saw Hinata go through the refrigerator. I made a mental note to go grocery shopping soon.

"LET GO OF SAKURA-CHAN, YOU PERV!" Naruto shouted.

"Is Neji always like that?" Ino asked with a grin.

My sons, Hinata, and I nodded. "In the mornings, he's weird." We all said in union.

"So what's going on?" Shikamaru asked as he yawned. He had taken a seat next to Ino, who fed him pieces of her pancakes.

Out of nowhere, the lights in the kitchen turned off as the spot light shined on Lee. Where the lights came from, I had no idea. Tears began to form in his eyes. "The Youthful Café is going out of business!" Lee announced.

I counted up to three before…

"EEEHHHHHH?" Everyone said shocked. That seemed to have waken Neji up.

"It's true. We're just not making enough money to keep the business going." Lee frowned.

"Why can't we just help you pay for the business?" Chouji asked. "We all have enough money to do so."

"No!" Lee said. "I made this business through hard work and determination. It will all mean nothing if I can easily get money."

"Lee…" Tenten said with a proud smile. "We just need to come up with an idea to raise more money and bring more people in. Any idea guys?"

Everyone put their heads together to think before a pale hand rose in the air.

"Hinata?" Tenten called out.

"W-Well, everyone knows about the student council. If word got out that they were working at the Youthful Café. People would fill out the place." Hinata said with a shy smile.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! I taught you well!" Ino cheered. "We have good looking people. Girls and guys would die to be served by them."

"We should have a large event to help raise money as well. But how?" Temari pondered.

"Talent show?" I offered.

"Talent show?" Everyone repeated.

"Well Hinata and Neji are good at the violin so they can perform. Hinata and Ino can sing as well. Naruto and Sasuke too! We can ask other people as well." I said with a smile.

"Good idea forehead-girl!" Ino smiled back.

"We should have it this weekend, just a week before Christmas. People will be out in the streets doing Christmas shopping. They will be bound to see our advertisements." Kankuro said.

"Thank you, everyone…" Lee said.

"Let's get started on the advertisements!" Chouji cheered.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

As I was walking around town with my flyers, I ended up passing by this music school. I stopped by to listen. Someone was playing a guitar while singing. I couldn't help but closed my eyes and listen. When the person was done performing, I heard applauses.

"You are so cool Karin-sensei!" The kids cheered.

I almost fell over. Karin? Looking through the window, it was indeed Karin. The red hair was hard to not notice. I watched as Karin looked at me and froze in her spot. Her face turned pink as she opened the window.

"Haruno! Why are you here?" She cried out in embarrassment. I fell back in surprise as the kids in the room laughed.

"Hello Karin!" I smiled.

She turned around and faced the class. "I'll let you guys go on an extended break. I'll blow the whistle when it's time to go back to class."

"Yes Karin-sensei!" The class said as they ran out of the class.

A couple minutes later, Karin and I were sitting on a bench as we watched the kids play around outside.

"You're a teacher?" I asked.

"A voice teacher…" Karin said embarrassed. "What were you doing outside of my classroom?"

"I was walking and I heard you singing. It's really good!" I complimented.

Karin let a smile appear on her face as she looked up at the sky. Snow was gently falling now.

"My mom used to be a singer. In her free time, she'd practice with me. I love to sing. As weird as it sounds, I want to take up singing as a career."

"That's not weird at all! If it's what you love to do, then you should do it! But you're really good at sports. I thought you'd go into the sports career." I said as I raised my voice a bit. Karin looked at me in surprise before smiling.

"I wanted to become my mom's dream. My mom left the stardom because she was getting ill and went to teaching at this music school. At times when she couldn't teach, I'd do it for her. We were a mother daughter team." Karin said. I noticed how she was speaking in past tense. Was her mother dead as well?

She soon seemed to understand my confusion and frowned. "My mom had sarcoma. She was to die if she didn't get the surgery. I was only ten at the time. She didn't want to end up losing her voice with the surgery but she didn't want to die either. Soon she got the surgery and she lived but she wasn't able to teach here without my help. She'd play the piano and guitar while I'd sing. I've taken over her class in time. My mom wanted me to stop singing because it was painful for her to be reminded of the life she had. In fact, she prohibited me singing at home and school. That's why I've taken up sports instead of singing at school. She doesn't even know I still teach here. If she did, she'd hate me. But my dad tells me my mom loves me very much and that I should do what I want to." She soon looked at me when guilt. I could tell she felt bad about bring up her mom when mine was dead.

I soon waved my hands in front of me to get rid of the awkwardness. "Don't worry about it Karin. It's okay."

"What was your mom like?" She asked.

"She was very kind and beautiful. I got my pink hair from her. My eyes are green like hers but hers is lighter. Mine sometimes it takes a blue hue. I don't remember much about my mom but I know that she loved me very much." I said with a smile.

"If she loved you that much, she must have been a very good person." Karin said.

That brought tears to my eyes as I wiped them away. "Thank you." I said as I looked down at the flyers in my hands. "Oh yeah, that reminds me! You should perform at the talent show we're holding at the Youthful Café. You can probably perform with Sasuke or something. He can play the guitar! I heard Jugo and your boyfriend practices with Sasuke at times." I passed her a flyer as she took it.

"No." She said. I sighed as a sad aura surrounded me. Karin looked at me until she sighed. "Fine."

"Really?" I asked excited.

Karin took the flyer before smiling. "Yeah, but in return you have to do something for me."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

It was finally the day before the talent show and we sold so many tickets that the Youthful café was going to be over packed. It was as big as the theater at school. Just hearing that the Student Council of Konoha Academy was working and performing, people went crazy. I was at the Youthful Café with Lee going over everything. Lee had closed the café early because it was dead. It was getting warm so I took off my white puffy jacket and placed it on a table.

"I'm so excited!" Lee said as we looked at the paper showing the acts for tomorrow. "Hopefully everything will go well."

"They will Lee." I smiled as I looked at the paper.

**Talent Show:**

**Act 1:**

1. Hinata and Neji Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Tenten- Konoha Concerto for oboe, 2 horns, violin, and strings

2. Ino Yamanaka-Play in the Early Afternoon

3. Temari Sabaku-Fan dancing

4. Kankuro Sabaku-Ventriloquism

5. Naruto Uzumaki-Magic show

6. Sasuke Uchiha-Scenario

7. Hinata Hyuga-Glorious Sunshine

**Act 2:**

1. Neji and Hinata Hyuga- Black Diamond

2. Naruto Uzumaki-Distance

3. Sasuke Uchiha-Shissou

4. Karin Takeshima and Sakura Haruno-Answer Song

5. Gai Maito-Youthful Poetry

6. Konoha Academy Student Council- Mata Ashita

I paled as I saw Gai's entry. We would have people running out of the café the moment we announce his name. I was doing a song Karin wanted me to do. She wrote it herself and wanted me to sing it. If she was to participate in the talent show, I had to participate as well. I turned to Lee who was looking around his shop with an indescribable expression and it made me worried. Lee was usually an open book.

I placed a hand on his cheek and gentle slapped it. "What's wrong?"

"Just thinking…" Lee muttered. "I…"He began to shake his head. "Never mind. I'll tell you about it when the time is right."

" Eh?" I turned around to continue the topic but the bell chimed, signaling someone was entering the café. Before I knew it, Lee had shoved me behind the counter as he stood up to it.

"Welcome to the Youthful Café." Lee said as I heard someone with heavy footsteps coming up to him.

"No customers today?" The man said. His voice was smooth and deep. It had a tone of authority to it.

"I'm closing up the shop early. I had the workers go home early since there wasn't anything to do or clean." Lee said. I could see and feel his legs shaking. It just made me want to see just who Lee was talking to.

"I heard you're having a talent show tomorrow night." The man said. "Do you think this will help you win the café? I will take over this café and there's nothing like a little talent show that will stop me. "The man said. "You lose. I'd go to this pathetic event tomorrow but I'm busy getting papers ready to buy this place. Instead, I'll send some of my men to go for me. I hope you don't mind."

"O-Of course not." Lee said.

"You should be careful from now on. Not like it will help you. You wouldn't want anything happening to the thing that is important to you." The guy said. I watched as Lee's hands turned to fists. "Have a good night."

I was about to get up when I felt Lee's foot hold me down. I couldn't get up.

"Is there anything else?" Lee soon asked.

I heard nothing for a while. It was then I heard footsteps head towards the door as the bell chimed. Finally Lee removed his foot as I got up.

"What the hell Lee?" I snapped. "Who was tha-"I stopped when I noticed the serious look Lee gave me.

"It's no one who you should get involved with. I'll call for someone to take you home." Lee said seriously as he pulled out his cell phone.

I narrowed. Did Lee know something I don't? It was a bit awkward for a good couple of minutes. I was about to say something but Lee beat me to it.

"Hey Sakura-san!" Lee said becoming hyper. "Good luck tomorrow! I can't wait to see everyone's youthful performance!"

Soon I heard the sound of a motorcycle. I looked to see it was my brother.

"Sasori-nii?" I said as I ran outside. Lee followed after me. Did he call my brother to come pick me up? My question was answered when Lee bowed to him.

"Thank you." Lee said as he smiled. I realized I left my jacket as I went to go get it inside, leaving the boys to have a small chit chat. Heading back, I began to hear their conversation.

"You wouldn't have called me unless there was something you wanted to say." Sasori said. It made me wonder how Lee knew my brother's number in the first place. Wait, most of his employers are filthy rich. They can just pay to get the information. Rich bastards.

"He came by to the Café a couple minutes ago." Lee said as he rubbed the back of his neck. Who the heck was "he"?

Sasori's eyes widened as he took a step forward. "He came by while Sakura was here?"

Lee nodded. "He didn't see her though. I hid her behind the counter. He was threatening to take my store again."

"Don't worry. I talked to Pein about that. We will help you fight for your store as long as you continue to watch over my sister." Sasori said.

"…He also threatened to do something to Sakura. He didn't say it but he implied it." Lee frowned.

"Itachi has been on the edge ever since we found out he's been out in the open again. That guy tried to get him when Itachi was younger. For not listening, you know what he did. Then he realized that if he couldn't get Itachi, why not go for the younger brother. That's why Sasuke was taken in by Minato. Minato was a threat. But even that bastard got to him." Sasori frowned.

"The teachers at the school know about it." Lee said. "Out of everyone in the group, I'm the only one who knows the full story about what happened all those years ago. Gai-sensei told me about it. Sakura-san would get mad if she found out that I have been keeping in touch with you all these years."

He was definitely right about that. How could Lee hide this from me?

"I just need to make sure he doesn't get anywhere near Sakura. He's still looking for the thing Fugaku and Minato hid and Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto are the keys to it."

"We just need to hurry and beat him before innocent people get involved and it turns into an ugly mess." Lee said. "We both love Sakura-san. Obviously you more than I. We will protect her to the very end. It was what he wanted." It was soon quiet between them as I waited a couple minutes before coming outside.

"Found it!" I said keeping a cheerful façade.

"I'll see you tomorrow Sakura-san! Hope the fire continues to burn in you!" Lee cheered. I was a bit put off after hearing all that. But I forced myself to smile while I gave him a hug goodbye.

"See you tomorrow." I said as Sasori handed me a helmet before I got on the bike. Sasori got on as I wrapped my arms around his waist before he sped off into the night. It was a silent ride as I tried to take in everything I heard. I tightened my grip around Sasori's waist.

We finally arrived to the Namikaze's house as Sasori walked me to the door. I unlocked it as I saw Naruto and Sasuke in the living room playing some board game. Sasuke seemed to be winning because Naruto was calling him a cheater. Shikamaru was taking a nap on the couch while Sai was on the other side of the couch drawing. Neji was cooking something in the kitchen while Shino was nowhere to be seen.

I turned to say goodbye to my brother but saw that his gaze lingered on Sasuke and Naruto. It made me think back about Lee's and his conversation. I shook my head before giving him a hug.

"Thank you for dropping me off. You and the others should go to the talent show tomorrow!" I smiled.

He finally looked back at me before smiling. "Of course. Konan complains about not seeing you as much as she wanted. Have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow." He planted a kiss on my forehead but soon looked at the pale boy on the couch and glared. I looked to see Sai glaring back at my brother. What the heck? Sasori soon left as I closed the door.

"Where's Shino?" I asked.

"He went on a date with Kiba's sister." Neji replied. "Dinner is ready."

"Are you guys excited for tomorrow?" Naruto soon asked.

"Ah." Sasuke said as he followed the hyper blond.

"I didn't know you could sing Sakura-chan." Naruto said.

I blushed. "Oh well, I'm not that good. I'm only performing so Karin can perform. Hinata and Ino are way better than me. I'm actually pretty excited to see Karin perform! It's like I'm helping her reach her dream. How is practice with her, Suigetsu, and Jugo today?" Sasuke knew I was asking him because he soon nodded. Suigetsu was the guitarist along with Sasuke. Jugo was on the drums and Karin was singing.

"She's pretty good." Sasuke said. "You both are." I blushed at the compliment as everyone looked at Sasuke in shock.

"Did Sasuke just say something nice?"Shikamaru asked.

"The world is ending!" Naruto shouted to the ceiling but stopped when Sasuke threw a shoe at him.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

I examined myself in front of the mirror. I was wearing a pink and white maid outfit for the Youthful Café. The talent show didn't start until an hour later so we were dressed up and serving people. I pouted as I looked at my bunny ears and tail. We were in the back room changing. The guys had to dress up in suits and were already outside serving people.

"You look so cute!" Hinata smiled. She was wearing fox ears.

"She's cute in everything!" Ino cheered. She had cat ears.

"Well let's get ready to serve people." Tenten said as she put on her panda ears.

"Why did Lee want us to wear animal ears?" Temari frowned while she glared at her dog ears. "This is embarrassing!"

"As he quoted, 'It will make everything more youthful'" Ino mocked using air quotes. It gave us all a laugh as we went back to the front. I was surprised to see so many people. I've never seen the café this packed before.

"Sakura-sempai!" A voice called out. I looked to see Hanabi with Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon as they entered the café.

"You look so cute!" Moegi commented.

"Where's Naruto-niisan?" Konohamaru asked.

"Hm, he should be serving the guest around here. Come on, I'll give you guys a table." I said as I led them near the stage. "Hanabi, is you father coming?"

Hanabi shook her head. "He wanted to but he's very busy. So I brought my video crew."

"Video crew?" I twitched. She pointed to a couple people setting up in the back. Leave it to the rich people. Why couldn't they just get a camcorder?

"And we're here for the school's newspaper!" Udon said as he pushed his glasses up.

"Sakura!" A voice soon said as I was engulfed in a hug. I looked up to see Konan. Behind her were Itachi, Deidara, Tobi, and Kisame.

"Konan!" I said excitedly as I hugged the older girl back.

"Don't you look cute!" She smiled.

"Very cute, un!" Deidara added.

"Ah." Itachi said.

"Bunny huh? I see you more as a kitten." Kisame smirked.

"Sakura-chan is cute no matter what!" Tobi said as he soon went to hug me. "Tobi loves bunnies."

I blushed as I looked to my feet. "T-Thanks. Where's everyone else?"

"Pein is talking to some business rival." Konan said with a frown. "But he promised to make it. Hidan and Kakuzu can't make it because of some family party. Zetsu is sick. Sasori is here but was talking to someone." I soon looked back up to see my brother talking to Lee. Sasori turned around and became stiffed when he saw me.

"Niisan!" I called out. Deidara smirked before wrapping his arms around me.

"Hey, doesn't Sakura look very cute tonight, un?" Deidara said as he rested his chin on my head.

"Deidara…" Sasori growled. "Hands off Sakura."

"You need to calm down with that sister-complex of yours, yeah." He teased.

"Leave my brother alone." I said as I playfully pushed Deidara.

"Your service is needed on table 3." Sasuke said as he came up to me and glared at Deidara.

"Oops, sorry!" I said as I went to the table. It was a bunch of girls from school. "You asked for me?"

The girls looked at me confused. "We didn't call for you. We got our order taken by Sabaku-san." They said pointing to Gaara. I frowned. What the heck? I looked over to Sasuke to see him helping another group of girls who just drooled at the sight of him. Shaking my head and chuckling to myself, I soon bumped into someone.

"Seems you've been doing fine since the fire…" I looked up to see Omoi with Darui and Jay behind him.

"O-Omoi…" I said awkwardly. Soon someone with fox ears appeared in front of me.

"What are you doing here?" I looked to see Hinata standing in front of me glaring at the three gang members.

"We didn't come here to bother you or Sakura." Jay said as he fixed his glasses. His gaze soon fixed on me. "I'm glad to see you're doing fine."

"Thanks." I said as I tried to stop myself from staring at Omoi. "Well, Hinata will kindly show you three to a table and-"I stopped when I felt someone grab my wrist gently.

"Hey, can we talk?" Omoi said. My eyes widened as I looked over to Hinata, Darui, and Jay. Nothing seemed to be wrong.

"S-Sure…" I said. Omoi gave me the smile I missed so much.

"B-But Sakura-chan…" Hinata began to say. I gave her a smile of reassurance.

"I'll be fine." I mouthed to her before walking out of the café with Omoi. Looking back, I saw Hinata quickly running through the crowd. Great, she was going to tell someone. Whatever Omoi wanted to say to me, he had better make it quick. We went to the alley as I waited for him to say what was needed to be said.

"What is it?" I asked as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"Well to start, you look really cute tonight." He said as he took out a lollipop and placed it in his mouth.

I gave him a look to tell him that I was about to walk back inside. He soon took out another one and handed it to me. I looked to see it was a cherry flavor. I took it and placed it in my mouth as well.

"I know we broke up in really bad terms. I messed up and hurt-"

" Hurt? 'Hurt' doesn't even come close to describing the pain you made me go through." I growled.

"Sakura." He said as a way to make me stop. I made a face but signaled him to continue. "Remember how I told you that the Yakuza had a new leader? Well I realized how Naruto and that old Hyuga geezer are related to him."

Hearing Naruto's name instantly made me concerned. "How?" I asked.

"It's the parents." He said. "Naruto's dad and that Hyuga guy grew up together. They were in the same circle of friends. Your sons and friends are the kids of that circle of friends."

"What are you getting at?" I questioned.

"The new leader of the Yakuza is one of the members of that circle of friends. Something happened in the past. It was something so important that the new leader began to kill to get to it. That deceased husband of yours was the major key to all this. You're involved as well. Rumor had it that some men of the Yakuza are coming here to look for you." Omoi frowned.

"How do you know?" I asked.

Omoi raised his sleeves up to reveal bandages up to his biceps. "I got into a fight with one of their guys named Zaku. He was on the phone when he brought your name up in a sentence that pissed me off. I fought him and got information. From now on, don't go anywhere by yourself. I will be having some of our people transfer to your school to make sure you and your friends will be protected."

"You don't need to. I can take care of myself and my friends." I said. Did he think I was weak?

"I know you can Sakura, but I care about you. If anything bad were to happen to you-"

"I was beaten up for two hours when I left the Red Scarves. I lost my title to Samui and you slept with Karui. You didn't care for me at all!" I shouted.

"Do you even know Minato as he truly is?" Omoi asked. "He's involved with this somehow. Don't you find it weird how he paid for your debt and then died a month after?"

"How did you know about that?" I asked.

"People talk Sakura." He said with a shrug. I glared at him.

"You don't have the right to talk as if I know you me!" I growled.

"But I do Sakura. I'm your first love." He smirked.

Clenching my fists, I was about to go and punch him in the face until we heard someone running up to us.

"Hey!" Someone said. The two of us looked to see Sai and Naruto glaring at Omoi. "What's going on here? What are you doing to Sakura-chan!"

"We were just talking." Omoi said calmly as if I was never about to knock him out.

"Sakura…" Sai said as he looked at me. I was surprised to hear Sai say my name for once. I brought my fist back down and glared at the ground.

"It's what he said. We were just talking and we finished. Let's go back inside." I said as I walked away.

"Just listen to what I said." Omoi said.

Ignoring him, I walked back inside but not before seeing a familiar black Lamborghini drive off. When I went back inside, Ino and Temari were on me in an instant.

"What did that bastard talk about with you?" Ino frowned as she looked at me as if she was expecting me to be crying.

"Hinata told us he was here before she and Tenten went to get ready to perform." Temari added.

I looked back to see Naruto, Sai, and Omoi talking really quick before coming in.

"It's nothing of importance." I said. The bell rang as Lee soon appeared on stage.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Lee called out. He was wearing a green tuxedo and a red boy along with it. His teeth were as shiny as ever. "First off, I want to thank everyone for coming to this youthful event. Let's get this started!" Everyone got seated. I sat next to Shikamaru, Konan and Sasori.

Everyone cheered when they saw Neji, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, and Tenten come out. Neji was on strings, Hinata on the violin, Tenten on the oboe, and Shino and Kiba on the horns. Everyone closed their eyes as they listened to the cousins harmonize with each other. I could see Hanabi smiling excitedly while ordering the camera crew to get good footage. Two minutes later, everyone got up and clapped for everyone.

"SHINO-SAMA!" Girls cried out. I stifled a laugh as I saw Hana glaring at the girls. Kiba saw it as he smirked at his sister. He soon turned to me as I gave him a smile. He turned red and quickly went down the stairs. What the heck?

Soon the lighting changed as the spotlight went back on and Ino was sitting on a stool. She was wearing a beautiful purple dress with a long slit on her right side. Her long blond hair was down for once. I saw her look at Shikamaru before winking. A jazz like melody began to play as she flung a few strands of her hair over her shoulder. It sounded like some elevator music but it was nice. I could see people snapping their fingers to the beat.

Finally she got up and finished the song with a flirtatious smile as the crowd got up and clapped once again. I think I heard Shikamaru mumbling about his girlfriend being troublesome. She soon got down as the stage got dark. A few minutes later, the spotlight went on as it showed Temari in an orange kimono with a red obi. It had a flower print and if you looked closely, you can see tiny fans as well. A traditional Japanese melody began to play as she moved around the stage gracefully. I was surprised to see Temari in such a girly setting. She was the tomboy in the group besides Tenten. She was finally done as the audience cheered once more.

Soon her brother Kankuro came on stage with a puppet. He did the cliché trick of drinking water as the puppet began to talk. I could see Sasori's interest with the puppet. He made them back when we were little. After the ventriloquism was over, smoke began to appear on stage. I slapped my forehead when I saw who was going next on stage.

"GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY!" Naruto shouted. He had a black magician hat on.

"For my first trick, I will need a volunteer!" He called out. I watched as he pointed to Gaara who slowly walked on stage. He forced Gaara to go inside this box as he locked it. His head was showing as his feet were moving at the end. Naruto soon pulled out a giant saw. "I will now cut this man in half!"

The audience gasped as Gaara paled.

"You do know how to do this trick right?" Gaara growled.

"Of course, believe it!" Naruto smiled.

"Have you tried this on anyone else before?" Gaara asked. Naruto began to hum as he spun Gaara around. "NARUTO…"

"Trust me!" Naruto grinned. He soon stopped with the spinning as he began to saw through Gaara. I covered my mouth in fear as girls were screaming. Gaara had closed his eyes in fear as well. Soon Naruto pushed the two boxes away as everyone clapped. He soon put them back as he opened it. Gaara popped out as he began to touch his stomach to make sure everything was in one piece. Soon he made a few more magic tricks before his final act.

"I need one more volunteer!" Yamato came on. Everyone could see Kakashi and Anko grinning as they pushed him on stage.

"Alright! We have Yamato-sensei!" Naruto grinned as he soon called out for his lovely assistant. I smiled when Hinata came out blushing. She handed Naruto handcuffs as she locked it around Naruto's left wrist and Yamato's right wrist. Naruto soon covered a handkerchief on their hands as he took it off. "Taa-daa!"

Everyone didn't know what to say when Yamato and Naruto were still chained together. Naruto looked down and saw that it didn't work. He tried it again and again and it still didn't work.

"Naruto…" Yamato said. His voice had a warning tone to it as he slowly turned to Naruto. Naruto let out a girly cry as Yamato had a scary look. "…Do you have the key?"

"Eh?" Naruto squeaked. I looked to see the audience cracking up as Naruto turned red from embarrassment.

"Do. You. Have. The. Key.?" Yamato did not raise his voice but the threatening tone was still there.

"Key?" Naruto had the guts to say.

Tsunade soon came up and broke the chains in half as everyone applauded. "Yosh, on with the next act!" She said as she drank her bottle of sake.

Soon instruments appeared on stage as Jugo took over the drums. Suigetsu was on the bass guitar and his girlfriend was on the keyboard. Sasuke appeared on stage with his own guitar as he began to sing the same song he sang at the Halloween party two months ago. Girls went crazy as they screamed his name.

I looked over to see Itachi watching Sasuke. I wasn't sure if I was seeing things, but I swear there was a ghost of a smile on Itachi's face. He was slowly tapping his fingers to the beat on the table. Itachi must have felt me watching him because he soon stopped and looked at me. All I did was give him a knowing smile before walking away to help customers.

When Sasuke finished on stage, he had only moved over as he made room for someone else on the mic. Everyone looked as Hinata got on stage. She began to sing "Glorious Sunshine" by Utau Hoshina. She did a lovely job as she looked at me from the stage and smiled. I smiled back. Once her performance was done, we decided to take a break as everyone got back to work on serving everyone. People were demanding to take pictures with the Student Council. I heard the bell ring as I saw Pein enter the crowded café.

"Hello Pein-san!" I greeted with a bow. He nodded at me as I pointed to where Konan was. As he passed by me, he whispered "Do not be alone." before walking away. I frowned to myself. What was that supposed to mean? I looked around the café to see Omoi and his friends having a close eye on me on my left. I saw Sasori and Itachi subtly looking at me on the right. Lee would be helping customers in front of me. After a while, Lee went on stage again.

"It's time to start the second act!" He announced as everyone got to their seats. I looked up stage to see Jugo on the drums once more. Suigetsu and Sasuke were on the guitars again. Neji soon appeared on stage with a violin. Naruto took the chance to stand next to me. The audience was silent as Neji did a solo. As he did so, Hinata came on stage. She was wearing a black dress with a diamond cut on the right hip. I sighed as I helped Naruto close his mouth. We soon went to the back stage since we were in this act and Naruto was up next.

Hinata stunned everyone with her singing voice. If her first singing act didn't surprise anyone, this one did. Everyone was used to seeing the girl as the silent shy one. On stage, she was just as good as Karin. I loved how Neji soon came in with the violin. Finally their act was done and everyone applauded. Only Neji and Hinata left the stage as Naruto entered.

"HEY EVERYONE!" Naruto greeted as fans went crazy. He soon looked over to Sasuke and gave him a grin. Sasuke made a face as Naruto began. "YOU ARE MY FRIEND….!"

I giggled as Naruto went all out and Sasuke was embarrassed to be on stage with him. Naruto kept looking at Sasuke and all of our friends as he pointed at them.

"Naruto is pretty good." I heard a voice say. I looked to see Karin next to me. She was next with Sasuke.

"Ah." I said with a smile. "Are any of your parents coming?"

Karin frowned. "My mom doesn't know about it but my dad is coming for both of them." I gave her hand a squeeze. Soon Naruto came down and saw the two of us.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he flung on to me. We fell to the floor as I whacked him in the head. "Idiot! You need to lay off the ramen, seriously!"

Karin let out a few laughs as she helped us up. "Don't go flinging yourself onto people! Well, I have to go. She soon went to grab her guitar as she got on stage.

"SASUKE-SAMA!" Girls screamed once more. Suigetsu watched as Karin got on stage and nodded at their. On the count of three, the two began to play as Jugo followed. Sasuke soon began to sing. I smiled as I nodded my head to the beat. I remember this being the ending song for the anime Ouran High School.

The song ended as Sasuke moved away from the spot light as the guys began to play a new beat. Karin soon took over the spot light as she played the song she and I practiced on the guitar. In order for her to sing, she wanted me to sing with her. She soon pointed for me to come up on stage as we stood together. I was still a bit embarrassed to sing along with someone as amazing as her. I looked to see a man with silver hair and red eyes waving at Karin. I figured that was her father as she smiled and waved back at him. Jugo began to play the drums as Suigetsu and Sasuke backed him up. Karin began to tap her feet as she played the guitar as well. I waited for her to start singing.

(A/N: Karin will be singing normally and Sakura will be in italics. The two together will be in bold. The words underlined will be the English version of it. They will be singing 'Answer Song' by Dead Girl Monster)

(Karin)

Taoresou da mou nanjikan gitaa hiite utatte nda  
Demo nakanaka ashi wo tomete moraenai  
Nara **sakede yaru** hito no kunou wo ikite iku riyuu wo  
**Dakedo** kono atashi ja okogamashii sou **omocchau yo**

I'm about to collapse. How long have I been playing the guitar and singing?  
But it's hard for me to stop my feet  
If that's case, I'll shout out the reason why human live through suffering  
But with me as I am, i think that would be arrogant

**(Karin and Sakura)**

**Ima mo kikoeru sono utagoe wa setsunaku mo chikara tsuyoku  
Soko made atashi ni utaenai yo toosugite tsukamenai**

The singing voice that i still can hear now is pained, but very strong  
I can't sing that. it's too far away, and I can't reach it.

I looked behind me to see Sasuke give me a encouraging smile as I took a quick deep breath. My part was next. Karin soon went to playing the guitar.

_(Sakura)_

_Itsu no ma ni ka butai no ue ni tatteta domannaka  
Hirogaru shikai kankyaku bakar uzumorete shimaisou __**nigero!**__  
Shiirudo ga karamitsuite ugokenai __**dou shiyou**__  
Kore wa mou makkou kara idomu __**shika nai**_

Before I knew it, I was standing on the center of the stage  
My spreading field of vision is filled with the audience. I feel like I'll be buried. run away!  
The shield is twisted around me, and I can't move. what should I do?  
There's nothing I can do now only face this on

As I sang, Karin began to clap her hands to the beat as everyone in front of us copied her. Naruto and Kiba were going crazy as I let out a smile. Ino gave me a thumb's up as she was jumping up and down. In fact everyone else was. My eyes made contact with Sai who had a weird expression on his face. I soon looked over to Omoi to see him looking at a few people who had just come into the cafe. I ignored it as I continued to sing.

**(Karin and Sakura)**

**Utaidashi wa tochicchatta kedo B mero kara ochitsuite kita  
Ato wa mi wo yudanete utau yo membaa wo shinjiteru yo**

**I want to reach you  
I want to become you  
**Koe yo hazero!**  
I can sing a rainbow  
I can sing like the gods  
Ten made Jump!**

My singing came out flustered, but by the second verse, I calmed down.  
After that, I believe my whole body to my song. I believe in the band members

I want to reach you.  
I want to become you  
Explode my voice!  
I can sing a rainbow  
I can sing like the gods  
Jump up to the heaven!

Karin soon went into a solo with her guitar as Sasuke and Suigetsu followed suit. Jugo went crazy on the drums.

(Sakura)

**Yagate** _suzushii kaze ga fuiteta ase mo_ **kawaiteta**  
_Hontou ni sora no ue made kichatta_ **you da yo**

soon, a cool windy, and my sweat dried  
It's like we really came all the way above the sky

"**Ima mo kikoeteru kono utagoe wa anata no koe nanda yo?  
Itsuka issho ni utatte mitai na  
Sono hi wo tanoshimi ni shiteru"**

"This singing voice that I can hear now is yours, right?  
Someday, I'd like to sing along with you  
I'm looking forward to that day."

**Such a voice was heard  
Such a song was heard**  
_Un, utau yo_  
**I shout living here  
I shout friends here**  
**Sora takaku**

Such a voice was heard  
Such a song was heard  
Yes, I sing it  
I shout living here  
I shout with friends here,  
High up in the sky!

Karin and the others continued to play as I gave Karin a smile. I looked to the audience to see that they were amazed. Everyone went crazy as they cheered Karin's and my name. I blushed due to the attention as I hid behind her.

"Good job." She said as she was breathing heavily. Sasuke appeared behind me as he patted my head.

"That felt awesome!" Suigetsu shouted before giving Karin a kiss on the lips.

"Let's bow." Jugo said as the five of us took each other's hand. Karin took my right hand as she raised it in the air. Sasuke did the same with my left hand.

"WATCH OUT HE HAS A GUN!" Someone shouted, ruining the mood of the café.

"SAKURA!" Another voice cried out through the crowed as I looked up during the bow.

When we bowed back up, the sound of a gunshot was heard. I didn't remember much about what happened after that.

I believe people were running out of the café for safety.

I think Kakashi and the other adults were trying to usher everyone out.

I remember seeing Hinata and Hanabi were grabbed by Neji and Kiba. Ino was taken to safety by Shikamaru. Lee took Tenten and Temari was taken by her brothers. Karin was brought down to the floor by Suigetsu and Jugo.

I remembered as the crowd separated, there was a man in a black trench coat, hat, and shades. He had the gun someone mentioned as it was pointed at me. There was smoke coming out showing that he had already shot the bullet and that bullet was aimed for me.

"SAKURA!" I looked to see my brother and Omoi bringing the guy down to the ground. Pein, Kisame, Itachi, Tobi, and Deidara had jumped the guy as well. Konan looked to me as she gasped. I fell to the ground and landed on my side

I began to shake in fear as I continued to stare at what was in front of me. Naruto looked up on stage as his blue eyes widened with fear. "No…Sa-" I could see Naruto trembling from my point of view before running towards me. Sai who had been running towards me stopped in shock.

"SASUKE!" Naruto screamed. Sasuke had taken the bullet for me.

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Sorry everyone! No bonus story for this chapter. I didn't want to take away the seriousness and shock of this chapter. So anyone surprised or did they figure something was going to happen with Omoi showing up and Pein's warning. Yes Sakura didn't get hurt this time, it was Sasuke. We will find out who the asshole with the gun is and what happens to Sasuke in the next chapter. Please review everyone and wait for my next update.

Love always, Kumiko.


	34. Merry Christmas

I want to thank everyone for being patient with my updates. School is just killing me with all these midterms and papers. That's just college life I guess. But I wanted to bring this up with you guys. A few days ago, I got a message about my story. A reader didn't like that this was going to end up as a SaiSaku fanfic and pretty much said this story was stupid and I was stupid for liking SaiSaku. It hurt me that someone couldn't respect me and this story just because of the pairing. So I want to apologize for those that this story isn't going to end up as SasuSaku. I know most of you guys wanted Sasuke to end up with Sakura but like I stated before, I never wrote a SaiSaku fic before and wanted to give it a try. I want to thank you all for sticking with it for this long. So I plan to make an alternative story with this story ending with Sasuke. Well, it's up to you guys if you'd want that. I just hope for other readers to respect the pairings that other people like. If you don't like SaiSaku that's fine by me as long as you keep it to yourself and not be rude to people who actually like the couple. And to the person that wrote the message, I don't want an apology from you, I just want you to be more considerate of other people's feelings.

**Sakura Kiss**

I had my head buried between my knees as I continued to sob. Sai sat down next to me as he held onto my right hand and rubbed it for comfort. Shikamaru and Neji were talking to the doctor about Sasuke's current condition. Shino was staring outside of the window in the hall. He looked like he had no care in the world. But knowing Shino as well as I did, I could see the clenching of his teeth and how he'd look up every time the door from the E.R. opened. He was worried.

The image of Sasuke falling back and into my arms as he clutched onto his right shoulder in pain played in my head. I could still remember his blood seeping through my fingers. Naruto had jumped the guy right and beaten up until the guy couldn't move or breathe. Gaara and Kiba had to hold Naruto back from killing the guy.

"He's going to be alright Sakura-chan. This is Teme we're talking about." Naruto had spoken up as we were in the waiting room at the Hospital. I was sitting on one of the chairs while he was crouching in front of me. I couldn't tell if Naruto meant what he said or if he was just saying that so he could make everyone feel better. There were tears in his eyes. I let go of Sai's hand as I soon wrapped my arms around Naruto and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Sasuke was shot because of me. Because someone was after me, he got hurt." I cried even more. That only had Naruto tighten his hug. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault." Shino said walking up to us. "Don't cry."

"If only I had listened to Omoi!" I cried. There were so many signs that night. The guy who threatened Lee said he was going to send his men there. Pein had warned me to be careful. Omoi warned me to not be by myself.

"There's nothing you could have done to prevent it. If he didn't jump in front of you that would have been you in the bed!" Sai said slowly.

"Rather him than me!" I snapped. Everyone was silent as they just stared at me. I soon shook my head and then grabbed his hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you…"

"It's alright ugly." Sai said with as he patted my head.

"Um Mrs. Namikaze?" A voice said. It was the doctor that was talking to Neji and Shikamaru earlier. "Are you the…mother of Sasuke?" He looked surprised that someone my age was the "mother" of these boys.

"Yes." I said as I wiped away my tears. The doctor had a straight face before smiling at me. "He's going to be alright. The bullet missed all the vital organs when it hit him. We were able to stop the bleeding. We want to keep him overnight to rest though. For the next few weeks, he'll be sore in his chest. Overall, he's a strong one. He's very lucky." Naruto had a huge grin on his face as he wiped the tears away.

"Can we see him?" Naruto asked. The doctor nodded.

"Normally, we don't allow guest after visiting hours, but Tsunade allowed it for tonight. Just don't cause any loud disruption." The doctor said as we bowed our thanks to him. I opened the door to see Sasuke lying down on the bed. His right chest was bandaged up. He seemed to be sleeping. I was about to say we should just visit him tomorrow morning when Naruto jumped on Sasuke and shook him up.

"Oi, bastard!" Naruto said. "Don't worry me like that!"

"NARUTO!" I growled as I punched him in the face. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"So annoying…" Sasuke managed to say as he slowly got up. Neji helped Sasuke up.

"You're okay!" I said as I hugged him. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I love you…" He whispered in a volume only for me to hear. My eyes widened in shocked as I blushed and took a step back. I soon looked over to Sai as he looked over at us with a blank look on his face. I swear, I can never tell what that guy is thinking.

"Hey Sakura, may I have a word with you outside?" Kakashi said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. When did he get here? I nodded as he led us outside of the room without everyone noticing.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We were able to identify the shooter. He was a senior from Sound Academy. His name was Zaku Fujioka. He was associated with the Yakuza." I was wondering why Kakashi was speaking about the guy in past-tense. As if he could read my thoughts, he frowned. "Naruto had beaten the guy up to the point where he couldn't breathe or move. He died from blood loss before the doctors could do anything."

Good. I thought evilly. I soon shook my head as I frowned. No. I couldn't think like that. If I did, it would only trigger her to come out.

**There's nothing wrong with that…**

I frowned at the voice. Yes, yes there is something wrong with that. Remembering what happened to Ino and the others that night, I put my left hand on top of my right hand to hold it still. I made a promise to myself and Gaara that I wouldn't let that happen again.

"What did that guy want with me?" I looked up at Kakashi only to have him ruffle my hair.

"Hatake!" A woman called out. Shizune was standing with her. She had short mahogany hair and brown eyes. She seemed to be about Kakashi's age. Kakashi nodded before giving me a smile.

"Give me a minute, Rin!" Kakashi said still facing me before his face got serious.

"It's nothing that you should get yourself involved with. Leave it with the adults and no going to Tsunade about it. Remember, look underneath the underneath." He said with a lazy wave before walking away. It soon hit me. Tsunade and the adults knew the answers. I couldn't get a hold of her since she was on vacation and the school was closed until the New Year. I sighed once more. Well, all I had to worry about now was how to get all the boys to celebrate Christmas which was coming in a week.

XxXxXxXxXxX

I woke up early the next day to make breakfast. The boys had stayed up late making sure Sasuke was comfortable here and there. I offered to do the laundry today and clean their rooms but the boys said they could handle it. I didn't really care, less chores for me. My goal today was to start decorating the house and get a Christmas tree for this place. Shino was nice enough to inform me that all the Christmas lights were in the back shed but their Christmas tree had been destroyed due to a fight Naruto and Sasuke had last year. I frowned. Poor Minato.

I went to my room and threw on a nice warm red coat and beige boots. Placing a warm hat on top of my head, I headed outside to get some work done.

It took me a while, but I was able to find the lights and bring them all inside. I began at the backyard as I set the first couple feet of the lights on top of the house. Using the ladder, I was high enough to reach Neji's room. His window faced the backyard. The curtains were open, so I couldn't help but take a peek inside. I was in for a surprise when I saw a sleepy shirtless Neji taking off his pajamas. I turned red when we made eye contact. Neji lazily walked up to his window and opened it.

"What are you doing?" He asked as he rubbed his left eye with the back of his left hand.

Getting over my little embarrassment, I told him I was getting the house ready for Christmas. He nodded and said he'd get ready and help me. I smiled my thanks and continued working. By the time Neji was out, I already finished one side of the house. Together, we finished putting up the lights in an hour. It was finally eight in the morning as we met back in the front of the house.

"Yea! We got the lights up!" I grinned as I gave Neji a high five.

"What else do you have to do?" He asked. I placed a finger to my chin as I thought about it.

"Hm, I need to get more decorations for the house and find a tree. We can all find a Christmas tree together when everyone wakes up." I said as we started to walk back into the house.

"That's good. I still need to finish my Christmas shopping." Neji said. "Just need to find Hinata and Lee a present and then I'm done." I had stopped walking in shock as my mind froze. I had forgotten to get everyone a present!

"You didn't buy anything yet, didn't you?" Neji inquired. I shook my head sadly. He looked at the clock inside. "We can eat breakfast fast and then go to the mall to buy your gifts."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Ah."

"SA-KU-RA-CHAN!" Naruto said as he flung himself on me. "Let's go to the mall. I forgot to buy presents for everyone!" I let out a laugh. Luckily, I wasn't the only one to forget to buy them.

"Neji and I were going to go after breakfast. You're more than welcome to come with us." I smiled.

"Trying to pull the moves on Sakura-chan and take her away from Sasuke and Sai, eh?" Naruto wiggled his eyebrows at Neji.

"Preposterous." He scoffed. "Like I'd get involved with that love triangle. Sakura doesn't even know who she likes."

"Stop talking like I'm not here!" I said embarrassed. "Go eat breakfast and get ready to go!"

"Yes mother…" The two said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes as I entered the kitchen. I saw Sasuke wince as he moved to sit on the chair. Everyone else was at the table putting food on the table.

"Where did you two go?" Shikamaru asked.

"We were putting up the lights." I said. "We're going to the mall later to finish Christmas shopping."

"Just you two?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm going!" Naruto grinned.

"We'll all go." I said.

And that's where we spent the whole day at. We were at Leaf Fashion Show Mall. We all decided to go our own ways to get presents. Neji offered to pay for the stuff I wanted to get since I had no money of my own. I still haven't touched the inheritance money from Minato at all. Kakashi hasn't really told me what they were going to do with it. So I was stuck with Neji. Shikamaru and Shino went together and Naruto went with Sasuke and Sai.

We decided to take a break from shopping as we went to grab something to eat. We ended up at Starbucks as he went and ordered our drinks and some snacks. I looked at the bags we had. I had gotten presents for Ino and the gang, Sasori and his friends, Tsunade, Kakashi, Shizune, Jiraiya, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Shino. All I had left were Neji, Sai, and Sasuke.

Neji finally came back with two grande sized hot chocolates and a lemon cake slice to share. I thanked him as I took a sip. "So Sai, huh?" I choked on my drink.

"Excuse me?" I asked shocked.

"Sai. He's the one you've chosen, am I right?" Neji asked again.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." I said trying to play it off but he wasn't buying it.

"I kind of overheard you and Karin that night when the girls slept over." He said looking at the lemon cake. I turned red with embarrassment and anger.

"You were eavesdropping?" I all but yelled. There were a lot of people in the café and I didn't want to cause a scene.

"It's not that hard with you girls talking so loud, but why Sai of all people?"

That question had me pause to think. Why Sai, indeed. To be honest, I wasn't sure.

"It's nothing serious." I lied. "I just like him like he and Sasuke likes me. This feeling we all have will go away."

"You don't need to lie to me." Neji said. "You're someone important to me. So…I want to make sure whoever you choose will be the right one for you."

"Is it obvious that I like him?" I asked quietly.

"If you watch carefully, you'd see the subtle glances you guys give each other and what not." Neji said with a tug of the lips. "But I want to make sure Sai and Sasuke are serious about you as well."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to make sure Sasuke likes you because he truly does and not to compete with Sai. And I want to make sure Sai likes you because he truly does and not because you remind him of his ex." Neji frowned.

"How do I remind Sai of his ex?"

Neji was quiet for a bit before he talked again. "You guys have the same eyes but different hair colors. She had this grayish purple colored hair. I believe she's taller than you by an inch or two. Your personalities are quite similar, but she's more girly."

I frowned. What if Neji was right? What if Sai liked me only because I reminded him of his ex. This shouldn't even be bothering me. This feeling I had wasn't serious that's why I'm not doing anything with Sai's and Sasuke's feelings.

It got really quiet between us as I soon brought up another topic. It had been bothering me since Kakashi brought it up at the hospital. "Hey, do you have any of your father's old stuff from back when he was in high school?"

This surprised the boy as he made a face. "I'm not sure but my uncle probably does."

"Is it okay if we stop by today? There's something I'd like to check." Neji nodded as he called Shikamaru to inform them to go home without us as he soon called someone to pick us up to go to his uncle's.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata greeted me with a warm hug as Hanabi was walking up to us with Hiashi right behind her.

"Neji-niisan!" Hanabi grinned as she ran up to her cousin. Neji let out a smile as he ruffled her hair.

"Please come in." Hiashi said as he led us all to the tea room. "What brings you here today?"

"Sakura had something to ask you." Neji said as he nudged me with his elbow. I glared at him before clearing my throat.

"Yes?" Hiashi asked with a smile.

"I was wondering if I could look at any of the things you had when you were in high school." I said nervously. Neji and his cousins looked at Hiashi to see him close his eyes.

"Hinata, can you take your sister and cousin outside. I'd like to speak to Sakura-san alone." Hiashi said. Hinata nodded as she took the others outside. Hiashi soon turned his attention back to me as he sighed. "Does this have to do with what happened at the Youthful café?"

I nodded. "Someone important got hurt because of me. The shooter was after me. I was told you were involved because of your past."

Hiashi frowned before getting up. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

A couple minutes later, Hiashi came back with a box. "It would have been best if you went to Tsunade instead. But I believe you have the right to know all that I do." He pulled out an album and handed it to me. "I'll be outside in the garden if you want to speak to me after." As soon as he was gone, Neji and Hinata came into the room.

"Did you find what you needed?" Hinata asked. I nodded and told her I haven't looked at it yet.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Neji asked as he went and grabbed a few letters and began to read it.

"Anything that shows how I'm connected to all this…" I said as I began to go through the pictures. Like the album I saw back in Minato's room, I saw pictures of Minato and my friends' parents.

There was a picture of Minato, Fugaku, Kushina, Mikoto, and my mother in the background as Hiashi and Hizashi were up in front of the camera. The twins had a mischief look on their faces as they gave had an arm around each other's shoulder and gave the camera a thumbs up. Minato was in the back embarrassed as Fugaku was glaring at the twins. I looked to see Kushina with my mother and Mikoto.

"Is that your mother?" Neji asked as he looked over to the picture I was looking at.

"Y-Yeah." I said as I traced over her face.

"She was very beautiful." Hinata said with a smile. Neji nodded his head in agreement.

The next photo was what seemed to be prom as Minato was standing next to Hiashi and Kushina, the latter was pushing him towards my mother. She was leaning against the wall as Inoichi placed a hand on the wall as it looked like he was flirting with her.

As the three of us looked through the pictures, it seemed like there was something going on between my mother, Minato, Kushina, Inoichi, and Hiashi. I was a loss for words.

The next picture was of Minato, Fugaku, Mikoto, and some guy I didn't know. He seemed to be related to Fugaku.

The album was done as I looked to Neji and Hinata. They could tell I was still troubled.

"Sakura-chan?" Hinata called out.

"I don't understand…" I began to say. "My mother knew your parents. But how is that related to the Yakuza? How is Naruto, Sasuke, and I related to all of this?" My mind went back to the stranger I didn't know in that one picture. The one that looked related to Fugaku. I excused myself from the cousins as I went in search for Hiashi. He was sitting on a bench near a pond.

"Hiashi-san…" I said. He looked at me before patting to the empty seat next to him.

"You have questions. That is understandable." Hiashi said.

"You knew my mother." That was all I was able to say.

Hiashi closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. "Hana was a wonderful girl. I was in love with her in high school. But she only saw me as a close friend. The same thing with Inoichi. But she was in love with someone else."

"My father." I said.

Hiashi smiled. "Yeah. They truly loved each other and I was saddened when I heard how they died and left their children behind."

"My brother and I are doing well." I said.

"That's good." Hiashi said. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask?"

"How am I related to the Yakuza?" I frowned. "All I understood was that my mother knew you, Minato-san, and the others.

"Like Minato's favorite student used to say…" Hiashi said as he got up and began to walk away. "Look underneath the underneath."

Now where had I heard those words before? UGH! I felt like pulling my hair out with frustrations. Why were the adults so suspicious with everything? It was starting to piss me off. My eyes widened when I remember hearing Lee and Sasori talk about something that dealt with me. I could probably go to them. But I told myself I'd do it after Christmas. My family came first right now.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"IT'S THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS!" Naruto announced in the afternoon.

"Shut up dobe!" Sasuke said throwing a pillow at him with his good arm. The soreness was going away, which was good. Throughout the week, we had set up the Christmas tree and decorations around the house. The gang was coming over to celebrate the holiday here. I couldn't wait. Neji had helped me put the lights up around the house. Naruto and Sasuke accompanied me to help decorate the Christmas tree while Shino placed more decorations for the party. Shikamaru lazily put on a Santa outfit. He was going to be playing Santa and distribute the gifts later tonight. It was funny seeing him with a big belly. Sai was nowhere to be seen. No had seen him this morning at all. I frowned. If Sai wasn't here to celebrate Christmas, I'd lose the goal.

We waited for an hour after everything was ready for the party. We had called and texted him. Then an hour turned into three. It was six when guest began to arrive. Sasuke had promised to behave when Itachi came over, for which I was grateful.

"Where's Sai?" Ino asked me as she gave me a hug. She was with Karin.

"No one has seen him." I said as I shrugged my shoulders. Karin looked at me before poking my forehead. Was it because they were taller than me?

"I bet you're wishing for a Christmas Kiss from Sai. Don't worry your pretty little head. He'll show up. " Karin said with a soft smile as I turned red. "In the meantime, Ino and I will be putting these mistletoes up! Be careful where you stand." Ino let out an evil laugh as the two walked away. I shook my head as even more guests came a couple minutes later.

"Nii-san!" I greeted Sasori with a hug. He soon entered to place the presents down under the tree. I soon hugged all the other Akatsuki members until Itachi was the last person at the door.

"How's my brother?" He asked me as I closed the door.

"He's still a tad sore but he's recovering." I smiled. "Please don't fight today."

Itachi looked at me with an unreadable expression before giving me a mini smile. "Of course." He said with a hand on my shoulder. Naruto and Sasori made sure Itachi and Sasuke were nowhere near each other. Everyone was eating and having a good time. I could have sworn that someone came through the door but I was distracted by Deidara who had a smile I didn't trust.

"Hi…" I said warily.

"What do you see above us, yeah?" He asked with a grin. I paled as I looked up to see a mistletoe hanging innocently above us.

"Seriously?" I frowned. I looked back at the door to see that Sai had arrived with a painting in hand and was looking at us before walking away.

"It's tradition, yeah?" He said loudly as it caught the attention of Hinata who was talking to Tenten and Temari. She gasped before giggling. Deidara had cupped my cheek tenderly before leaning in. I turned red as I turned my head to the side only to have him kiss my cheek.

"Deidara…" A voice said darkly. We both looked to see my brother glaring at his best friend. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Deidara had lost all the confidence he had earlier as he let out an awkward smile. "Following traditions, yeah?"

"No." Sasori said. I took the time to escape from the duo. The last thing I heard was from Deidara saying something around the lines of 'don't worry. I'm not going to steal your beloved sister away.'

The party went on without any problems. Finally it hit twelve as everyone formed around the Christmas tree. We heard jingle bells ring as Shikamaru came in all his Santa Clause glory.

"Ho…Ho…How troublesome." Shikamaru said as we all laughed. "Let's start with this present. To Naruto, from Hinata." I watched as Hinata and Naruto blushed. Everyone watched as Naruto opened the present to find miniature figurines of 2PM, his favorite Korean band.

"Oh man! This is so cool!" Naruto grinned as he went up to Hinata and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek, earning a glare from the protective Neji.

The night went on as all the presents were distributed. I received a beautiful red dress with matching shoes from Hinata and a beautiful Chinese sword from Tenten. It had my name engraved on the blade. I received a pile of clothes and shoes from Ino and Karin from these high-end stores. Ino had always wanted to dress me up and she probably got Karin into it. Temari had bought me a nice scarf, hat, and mittens set. It was a nice cream color with little cherry blossoms designs. I had received a nice sand collection from Gaara. They were different colored sand in their own little bottles. Kankuro had bought me a cute little doll that looked a lot like me in my gang years. It even had its own little weapon.

I got two more dolls from Sasori. It was of me and him. I got a clay figurine from Deidara. A Jashin necklace from Hidan, money from Kakuzu, a glass rose from Zetsu, a card with money from Tobi, two bottles of high class sake from Kisame, a beautiful kimono from Itachi, and jewelry from Pein. I got a puppy from Kiba, a training suit from Lee, and I got an all you can eat for a year coupon from Chouji at any of his Dad's restaurants.

I received a necklace with a diamond cherry blossom from Neji, a butterfly collect from Shino, a glass set of Shogi from Shikamaru, a cute frog coin purse from Naruto, and a beautiful chain bracelet from Sasuke. There were little chains of a cherry blossom, a fan, a frog, an ink brush, a bird, a butterfly, a deer, and a heart. Sasuke soon told me it was to represent the family. The heart being Minato and everything else representing me and my sons. It made me really happy. Finally I got a painting from Sai. It was a picture of my family and I. My parents were standing close together as my dad had his arm around my mom's waist. Sasori was holding a two year old me as he stood in between my parents with their hands on his shoulder. The picture made me want to cry.

Everyone else liked their presents as well as everyone called it a night and helped clean up. By three in the morning, the house was clean and the guests were gone.

I soon went to the kitchen to see Sai heading outside. Neji and Shino were taking down the lights outside. Sasuke and Naruto were taking apart the Christmas tree as Shikamaru was taking down the decorations inside.

"Congratulations!" Shizune said as she appeared out of nowhere like usual. "You have completed your ninth mother goal. Are you ready for you next one?"

I nodded. "Bring it on."

"Try to take the boys out for the New Year's festival before midnight. However, if the boys have other plans, you must let them go."

"Huh?" I frowned. "That doesn't seem fair."

Shizune just smiled. "It's to see if the boys will be thoughtful to think about you that day and stay home with you. You cannot say anything about it at all. I took some really good pictures from the party tonight."

"You were here?" I asked incredulously. She nodded.

I sighed as I closed my eyes. When I opened them, getting ready to speak, she was gone. At that moment, Sai had entered the kitchen. His face was pink from being outside.

"Where did you get that picture?" I asked.

"I drew it at a studio I rented. I was there all day putting the finishing touches." Sai said with that fake smile of his. "I got the picture from Sasori."

"Thank you…" I said with a genuine smile. "It really means a lot to me."

"I haven't been able to complete a painting in a year. I was surprised I was able to finish this one. I don't normally name my art though." Sai said as we began to walk down the hallway.

It was silent before Sai began to talk again. "Did Deidara really kiss you?" He soon asked. We paused as I made a face.

"It was only on the cheek. We were accidentally standing under this mistletoe that Ino and Karin brought..." I said.

"Like we are now?" Sai asked.

"Huh?" I looked up. It was indeed a mistletoe. I blushed as red as a tomato as I began to back away into the dark hallway. Sai continued to walk towards me as he trapped me between the wall and his body.

"Sai, don't…" I whispered.

"Why not?" He asked. Omg, I could feel his breath on my neck. Silence was between us again as all we could hear were Naruto and Sasuke arguing.

"Where's Sakura?" I could hear Neji ask.

"I saw her go to the kitchen!" Naruto's loud voice answered.

Sensing no one was going to bug us, he held my chin in between his thumb and index fingers. They were warm, I noted, as he tilted my chin up. He slowly leaned towards me as I placed my hands in front of his chest, ready to push him away from me. As his lips got closer, I found my hands holding on to his shirt instead of pushing him away. Just this once Santa, let me have what I wished for this Christmas…a kiss from the person I'm falling in love with.

x

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**Bonus Story: **Father…

"SA-KU-RA-CHAN!" A voice called out. Sakura ran to the backyard only to get sprayed in the face by a water hose.

"Seriously, Minato?" Sakura said as she wiped some of the water away from her face. It was a hot summer day and all Sakura wanted to do was stay inside the cold house.

"There's an Obon festival downtown. Let's go!" Minato grinned.

"What kind of festival?" I asked.

"To honor the spirits of one's ancestors! I haven't been to one since the summer after my wife and son died." Did he seriously use that as a sympathy card?

"Fine…" Sakura grumbled.

A few hours later, Sakura and a hyper Minato were walking down the street to a temple. People were crowding up the place.

"Wow…" Sakura said as she took in all the booths and decorations. She was wearing a silky blue yakuta with pink sash around her waist. The yakata had flower petals decorating it. Minato was just wearing a navy blue v-neck and regular jeans.

"I wonder if they have a ramen stand." Minato said as they began to walk around.

Sakura let out a laugh. "I swear you and your ramen."

"Have you ever been to a festival before?" Minato asked as he was leading them towards the game booths.

"When I was little before my parents died…" Sakura answered. "Usually my parents were too busy with work, but they took a month off their schedules so they could bond with my brother and me. It was during a Sakura festival. My mom joked and said this festival was for me since my name was Sakura. My dad won me a pink bunny with a red ribbon around its neck. I gave it to him to take during his trip with my mother so they would remember me, but…" Sakura paused as tears formed in her eyes.

"…but they never came back." Minato finished for her. Sakura shook her head as Minato sighed and brought her close to his chest to comfort her. Sakura calmed down as she allowed Minato to hold her. It didn't feel anything romantic. Instead, it felt like a hug she would receive from an older brother if not a father.

"Sorry, I cried on you…" Sakura said as she looked to the ground in embarrassment. Minato just gave her a kind smile before placing a hand on her head.

"Like I said before, we're family." Minato grinned as he soon pulled her towards a booth. Sakura couldn't help but smile as she watched his figure drag her. She wondered how Minato would feel if she was starting to look at him not as a husband but as a father instead.

Sakura watched as they made it to a shooting game. There were targets that were moving really fast and seemed impossible to hit.

"Did you want to win your daughter a stuff animal?" the guy working the booth said.

"I'm not his daughter." I said awkwardly. Minato let out a chuckle before he placed money on the table.

"I'll have a go at it." Minato grinned.

"Take your time mister. This game is really hard." The guy said before handing Minato a kunai. "You need to hit a bulls-eye in order to win.

"Don't worry, I won't miss." Minato said as he let the kunai fly. In a blink of an eye, it booth made a sound signaling that he won. The guy working was too shock to speak. Minato went and grabbed a toy that he spotted and handed it to Sakura.

"Here you go Sakura-chan." Minato said. Sakura's eyes widened as tears began to form in her eyes once more. In Minato's hands was a familiar pink bunny with a red bow tie around its neck.

"It's not the same as the one your father won you, but I hope you will accept it." Minato said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Sakura took the bunny as she placed it close to her face. "Thank you…"

"No problem. Now, let's go find that ramen stand!" Minato announced. The two began to explore the rest of the temple when they finally made it to the graves. Sakura watched as Minato slowly walked to a grave. Getting closer it read _Kushina Namikaze._

"Your wife…" Sakura said as she got closer in front of the grave. Minato went to clean the grave as Sakura gave him some privacy. When he was done, Minato was on his knees as he made a prayer for his wife. Sakura did the same. She found it weird that Minato's wife was buried near her parents' graves. Getting up, she finally went to her parents' graves and saw that it was all cleaned as fresh flowers were placed on it.

"Did that bastard come already?" Sakura said thinking of her brother. Mentally shaking her head, she began to pray to her parents.

"Daisuke and Hana Haruno, huh." Minato said with a sad smile.

"Yes, my parents." Sakura said as her hand lingered on the cold stone.

"Thank you for bring Sakura into our lives. She's a very precious child. I will continue to take care of her for as long as I can. Hopefully, I will meet you there when my time comes." Minato said as he sent a prayer to them.

Sakura tried not to roll her eyes. "You're not going to die, Minato."

It was finally night time as people were forming around a lake that was near the temple. Minato and Sakura just finished watching a dance show. In the people's hands were paper lanterns with notes for their loved ones.

Minato had gotten one for Kushina and gave Sakura two for her parents. Minato had finished writing his message and had set it on water. He slowly watched as it floated away and then turned to Sakura. Getting closer, the one that was already finished was on the ground as he read it.

_Daisuke and Hana Haruno: I love and miss you. Continue to watch over me- Sakura_

If she combined her parents together on one lantern, then who was the other lantern for? Looking over her shoulder, he was shocked when he read Kushina's name on the lantern.

_Kushina Namikaze: Thank you for being a part of Minato's life. I can tell he truly loved you. Please continue to watch over him. Hopefully you will meet my parents up there and become good friends.-Sakura_

Sakura soon grabbed the two lanterns and watched as it floated away.

"You didn't have to do one for my wife." Minato said.

Sakura just smiled and continued to watch as her lanterns floated away together. "Like you said, we're family."

X

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How was that? Sasuke is alright and we finally have a development in the SaiSaku department. Again, I'm sorry if some of you guys don't like the couple, but I would like you guys to respect the pairings I like. Anyways, more of how Sakura is involved with the Yakuza is slowly revealing. Please be patient for the next chapter. Review too. It will make me very happy.

-Kumiko


	35. The Yakuza Leader Makes His Move

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the late updates. The semester is coming to an end for me but i have finals all next week. (**F**uck, **I** **N**ever **A**ctually **L**earned **S**hit). I've been using the time i had to write this chapter. Well you're in for a treat with this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it. Also again I want to apologize to you readers that this story is going to end up as a SaiSaku. I had mentioned it over in my other author's note, but some people just don't read them I guess. I am making a SasuSaku version of this story for you guys as well. But for the time being, all i ask if for you guys to be respectful to this story and pairings. There are some people who like SaiSaku like I do, (though I like Sakura with a lot of people), and it makes me feel bad people are hating on this story and me for it. So please keep all negative comments to yourself. How would you feel if people were bashing on you because of what pairing you liked? Sorry, needed to let that out. Anyways, please enjoy and don't forget to review.

**Sakura Kiss**

"FOREHEAD! WAKE UP!" A voice said as I tried to cover myself up with my blanket. However, the person ruining my beautiful sleep pulled the covers off me as I was dealt to face with difference in temperature.

"Pig, what the hell?" I growled as I formed into a ball to bring some of that lovely heat back. I was shivering and those bitches I call best friends didn't care. I looked to see Ino and Hinata smiling at me. I went to bed really late and was hoping to sleep in.

"We have to buy your outfit for Hinata's birthday party!" Ino grinned.

"Party?" I grumbled.

"S-Sorry for the last minute invites. I just found out my father had been planning this so I've been giving out invitations all day." Hinata said.

I let out a sigh. "What time is it?" I asked.

"It's eleven in the afternoon. I already forced the boys to do all the chores in the house today and help out at Lee's café so we girls can go out!" A voice said. I looked up to see Karin grinning by the door with Tenten and Temari waving at me.

"Fine. Let me get ready." I said.

Fifteen minutes later, I had gotten ready and was out the door.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, we'll clean this house and make it sparkling clean!" Naruto grinned as he waved goodbye to me.

"Why do I feel like when I go home, it's going to be the exact opposite?" I muttered as the girls giggled. Naruto pouted.

"Have more trust in your sons!" Naruto defended himself. I smirked as I waved my hand.

"It better be clean or else you and the others will be dealing with my fists!" I threatened before leaving the house.

We got into Hinata's family limo as we drove off to who knows where. When the limo finally stopped, we ended up at Hinata's house.

"Welcome home Hinata-sama!" two lines of maids and butlers greeted us when the door opened.

"Hello everyone. I have guests with me today so please tend to their every need." Hinata said.

"Of curse Hinata-sama!" They said in sync as they bowed.

We finally got to Hinata's house as her father and Hanabi greeted us before heading out for clan matters.

"What will you do for your birthday?" I asked Hinata as we entered her room. It was a nice lavender color with pure white carpet. A king size bed with purple and white bed set.

"My father is holding a b-ball for me. It's a masquerade ball. We're going all out to the point where you have to not only wear a mask but wear a wig as well to change your appearance completely." Hinata said.

"That sounds really cool." I said.

"Aw, that sounds so romantic!" Ino said as she began to glow. She was stuck in her own little world. Everyone took a few steps away from her. "Imagine me and Shika meet under the moonlight not knowing its each other until we dance and share a kiss…"

"What kind of food will be at the party?" Tenten asked ignoring Ino completely. That brought Ino out of her little world.

"DON'T IGNORE ME!"

"More than I can remember." Hinata said. "I will be the only one not in disguise. I-I hope I end up dancing with Naruto-kun." She said turning red. "My father invited a lot of people, especially his business friends. So there will be people from school that you will see. Neji-niisan and I will be doing a violin performance as well."

"Well I'm excited!" Temari said. "I wish Hidan could be there."

Hinata smiled. "I invited him and his friends as well. As long as they're in disguise, Sasuke and his brother won't fight."

"Good idea!" Karin commented.

I couldn't help but let out a grin. I've never been to a masquerade party and was so excited.

XxXxXxxXxXxX

December 28 came as everyone had split in order to hide their costume from the others. I had gotten changed at Hinata's home since she was making me wear a dress she chose. I was wearing a white wig that Hinata put up into a low side bun. It was decorated with a small cherry blossom clip. As for my dress, Hinata created a beautiful light pink strapless ball gown. Diamonds traced over the top of the dress and went diagonal across the chest area. At the hip, there was a random scatter of diamonds that held the first layer of the bottom part of the gown as there was another that reached the end of my feet. It was an open back that dipped close to the end of my tailbone. Overall, I fell in love with the dress.

"You look so beautiful!" Hinata complimented me as she soon went to find me a matching mask. Her party started in an hour.

"I-It's your birthday!" I said embarrassed. "You should be the one who sticks out."

"O-Oh, don't worry. I will!" Hinata said as she soon went to put on her dress. My mouth dropped. She was wearing a pure white strapless ball gown that hugged her body well. Once it got to her waist, it flared out like a wedding dress. I noticed that it had blue peacock accents that went from her left chest down. Hinata had her long hair up into a bun with a crown on her head.

"WOW! If Naruto doesn't confess his love for you by the end of the night, there is something wrong with him." I teased as she blushed.

"Same goes to you with Sai." Hinata said before frowning. "To be honest Sakura-chan, I was a bit jealous of Naruto and the others because I felt like they were taking you away from me. You were my first real friend and I love you. However, seeing you with them made you happier than ever. I'm grateful to them and I can see that they care for you as much as you do for them. I just fear that you take in everyone's feelings so easily and one day it's going to be too much for you to handle."

"Hinata…" I began to say.

"You try to make everyone happy but you never once put yourself first. Let us take care of you for a change. When you went to save us back from Killerbee and the others, when the house erupted in flames, I thought I had lost you. I don't want you to carelessly risk your life for me again, Sakura-chan. Promise me you'll never deal with those gang members ever again, p-please…" She was trembling now as I sighed. I pulled her into a hug as I rubbed her back to soothe her.

"The reason why I did that was because I'd rather die than have my precious people get hurt. I love you Hinata, you and every one of our friends. Your friendship helped me out of that darkness I was in. That's why if anything comes to harm anyone of you guys, I'll be there to stop them. Even if that means facing…" I bit my lower lip. Darn me for getting so emotional.

"E-Even if that means facing Karui and Samui?" Hinata finished for me. I nodded.

"Just come to us, to me for anything that's bothering you Sakura-chan. Just don't try to carry everyone's burden by yourself."

"Thanks Hinata-chan!" I said. "Well let's go and get you ready for your party."

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

I watched as a bunch of people I didn't recognize enter the ballroom. Hiashi really outdid himself with this party. There was a large water fountain in the middle of the ballroom. I saw a large ice sculpture of Hinata on one side of the room and an orchestra on the other. There was a whole side for the buffet table. I saw a guy putting piles and piles on his plate. I had to guess that was Chouji.

I saw four girls soon come head towards me. One had sky blue eyes and purple hair in curls with a baby blue ball gown. The next girl had a tight Chinese green dress that clung on to her. Her blonde hair was in waves and she had brown eyes. The third girl had sleek black hair and red eyes with a red mermaid ball gown. The last girl had teal eyes and blue hair that was in a sleek pony tail. She was wearing a green ball gown. I smirked knowing who those four girls were. I wouldn't be called their best friends if I didn't.

"Nice disguises!" I called out as I put my mask on.

"Forehead?" Ino said. She was the girl with purple hair. "Oh my god, I almost didn't recognize you. But the Sakura clip gave it away."

"Where's Hinata?" Tenten asked. She was the one in the Chinese dress.

"Still getting ready." I answered. I guessed that the girl with black hair was Karin and the last girl was Temari.

"Wow, the wig suits you." Karin answered. "Who else that we know are here?"

"Well, I thought I saw Chouji at the buffet already." Temari laughed. Finally, Hiashi appeared at the steps of the red carpet with a mic in his hands.

"Greetings everyone. I want to thank you all for making it to celebrate Hinata's 18th birthday party." Hiashi said. "Now, everyone give a round of applause for Hinata!" On cue, Hinata began to walk down the stairs as everyone gasped in amazement at how beautiful she looked. I saw a boy with spiky black hair and blonde streaks blush. His mouth dropped with amazement as his cerulean eyes eyed Hinata up and down. I smiled. That had to be Naruto.

As Hinata made it to the last step, the music began to play as I watched that boy ask Hinata to dance.

"May I have this dance?" Someone asked. I jumped as I turned around to see a guy I really couldn't recognize. He had short brown hair. I couldn't see his eyes because of his mask.

"Sure." I said as he led me to the dance floor.

We began to dance as he twirled me around. A dance began as everyone formed circles and began to switch dance partners. I bid goodbye to mine and went to the next guy. He had long silver hair.

"Hello, yeah." I smiled at that familiar speech habit.

"Hello, yourself Deidara." I grinned. He seemed shocked before looking at my hair.

"Guessing by the cherry blossom clip, you're Sakura, yeah?" I nodded as we continued to dance with small talk in between. The cue to switch partners switched as I ended up with a troublesome person.

"You smell like smoke." I crinkled my nose while glaring at him.

"Troublesome woman, you remind me of my step-mom."

"I thought you stopped smoking, Shikamaru." I frowned.

"Sakura?" He choked out.

"Mhm…" I smirked. "If I catch you smoking again, I'll tell Ino and you will deal with her lectures." I watched with satisfaction as he cringed.

"You're evil." He commented. I laughed and told him to dance with the girl with curly purple hair wearing a sky blue dress. He nodded as the girl I describe became his next dance partner. The two quickly left the circle.

My next dance partner had a very large build with a blonde afro. He reminded me of Bobobobo. I paled realizing who it was.

"K-Killer bee?" I frowned.

"Well, if it isn't Sakura." Killer bee said as he grinned at me. I tightened my grip on him. "The clip gives you away, yo!"

"If you're here to cause problems, I-"

"Don't worry. My adoptive brother is actually friends with Tsunade, yo! I'm here so I could learn some etiquette."

"Oh geez." I muttered.

"Hey, I want to thank you for save me that night. That was pretty tight! OH YEAH!" As if a light bulb had lit up in his head, he took out a notebook and wrote down what he just said. I just shook my head in embarrassment.

I soon left him as I went to my second to last guy on the circle.

"You look very beautiful tonight, Sakura." The man said. I looked up to see red hair. At first I thought of Gaara, but then remembered another red head.

"Sasori?" I cautiously said. He nodded as he spun me around.

"How did you know it was me?" I asked with a smile.

"You're my sister." He said with a smirk. "Of course I know."

"Why didn't you dress up?" I asked. "I mean with a wig."

"I gave mine to Tobi because he forgot his and I didn't have time to get another one."

We continued to talk about small things until I went to the last person I hadn't danced with.

"Hello." I greeted. The last guy had green spiky hair and had dark skin. For some reason he seemed very familiar.

"Sakura?" He said surprised. How can everyone easily tell it is me? I decided to take the Sakura clip out of my hair.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"It's me, O-"At that moment, the lights went off as a girl screamed. It sounded like Hinata. "They're here." I heard the guy say.

"Huh?" I looked up to see someone silhouettes moving up the stairs. Moving quickly, I followed them with my dance partner after me. I had grabbed a jacket on the way out. The moment the two of us left, the lights went back on.

"Where's Hinata?" Someone asked. That caused me to increase my speed. Why the guy I danced with followed me, I had no idea. I finally made it to the front as I saw Hinata in the hands of people I didn't know. I counted five of them before I quickly went and tackled the guys down to the ground as my dance partner grabbed Hinata away from the guys.

"Who sent you?" I growled as I slammed a guy's face to the cold ground. I must have broken his nose when I saw red snow underneath us.

"Bitch." The guy growled out. I narrowed my eyes at the comment before smashing his face back to the ground once more before I knocked him out unconscious.

I soon looked at the other guys before grabbing the weakest looking one by the collar of his shirt. My knee was threatening to crush his throat. "Why are you kidnapping the Hyuga Heiress?"

"Our boss told us to grab her because she is connected to Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. S-She was to be used as bait." He spilled.

"What does your boss want with those three?" My dance partner asked.

"He wants them out of the way."

"O-Out of the way for what?" Hinata asked.

"E-Even I don't know why our boss wants that. He has a grudge against those three though."

"Who's your boss?" I asked.

"I-I Don't know…?" The guy repeated.

"I don't like to repeat myself, but just this once. Who is your boss?" I snarled.

"I swear I don't know. W-We have two. One is Kabuto but it was the newest one who sent us. We don't even know who he is. No one has seen what he looks like. " Another guy said saving his friend. "P-Please let him go."

This was the Yakuza? I was not impressed at all. These guys were a bunch of wimps.

"Tell your boss this. Face me instead of hiding and having his lackeys do the dirty work for him. Come towards my friends again, I will make your death slow and painful. Just like how we killed Zaku." I said as I let the guy under me go. Everyone's eyes widened as the guy I held began to cry and ran to his group before driving off. "Hinata, are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine." She said as she went to thank the guy next to her.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The guy smirked as he took off his wig. Hair as white as snow was revealed.

"Omoi…" I whispered.

"Hey cherry…" He nodded.

"What are you doing here?" I asked while taking a step back.

"Killerbee asked me to come with him because he felt like the Yakuza was going to do something. He was right."

"Is it just you two?"

I watched as he looked to the ground. "Karui is here too."

I clenched my fists before heading to Hinata and grabbing her wrist and walked away. "Thanks for the help, but I got it from here. Leave."

"I want you back!" Omoi soon said. I heard Hinata gasped as she looked at me. My mouth went dry as I felt tears about to form but I blinked them away.

"You had me but now you lost your chance." I said. I heard footsteps before Omoi hug me from behind.

"You don't understand. I did it for you." Omoi whispered. I couldn't take it anymore. I quickly turned around and falcon punched him.

"Don't touch me." I growled. "I will never get back with you. Ever. I loved you once but that was a mistake. We were a mistake. I'm moving on and I suggest you do the same, asshole!"

"To who, Sai?" Omoi asked as he wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his right hand.

I was proud that I didn't react to that and continued to walk away with Hinata.

"I'm still in love with you." He soon said.

Hinata frowned as she glared at Omoi with al her might. "You didn't love her!" Hinata said as she wagged her finger at him. "You didn't love her because you don't destroy the person you love!"

Omoi looked at Hinata in shock before shaking his head. "Sakura, please listen. I truly do lo-"

"No." I snarled as I turned around to face him. Hinata quickly ran inside her house. "You don't mean it." I pushed him. "If you loved me, you wouldn't have cheated on me." I pushed him again. "If you loved me, you would have done something to stop Karui from beating me up for two hours." And again. "If you loved me, you would have saved Ino that night! You knew how much she means to me. If you loved me, you wouldn't have let me suffer!"

"I wasn't the one who froze up when it came to saving my best friend." He frowned as he grabbed my wrists from pushing him again. My eyes widened with that fact. "You stood there knowing your best friend was getting hurt. It was Gaara who had to drag your ass up there to save Ino. And then that was when you lost it."

I bit my lower lip trying to stop the tears from falling. He was right. If I hadn't frozen up at the moment, I could have saved Ino quicker. She wouldn't have to go through that pain. Inoichi wouldn't have hated me.

"What did you do to her?" A familiar voice said as that person placed a hand around my shoulders. I looked up to see Gaara standing next to me as he glared at my ex. His spiky blonde hair was falling off.

"G-Gaara…" I managed to say as I wiped my tears away. Omoi had let go of my wrists the moment Gaara came onto the scene.

"What is he doing here?" Gaara said getting pissed.

"I-It's alright Gaara. He helped me save Hinata. The Yakuza attacked again. Their leader is after Naruto, Sasuke, and I." I frowned.

"I know what you're thinking." Gaara said. "You're not getting involved with that anymore. Leave it to Omoi and the rest."

"Wh-"

"Gaara is right. It's getting more dangerous for you Cherry. I'll be sending my boys to watch over you from now on." Omoi agreed.

"But I-"

"No need to. Sakura has me." Gaara said frowning. I guess he still hasn't forgiven Omoi.

"Just be careful from now on. I advise that you have your friends well guarded. The Yakuza is after you and will use your loved ones to get to you. Don't talk to any strangers. Promise me you'll take care of yourself and don't do anything stupid." Omoi said as he pulled out a lollipop and placed it in his mouth before throwing Gaara and I one as well.

"Omoi…" I whispered as I held onto the candy. I watched as he nodded at us before walking away back to the party. I soon looked up to see Gaara frowning at me.

"Do you still like that bastard?" He asked me. I quickly shook my head.

"No, I don't think my heart will let me anymore. But I think I can be civil with him now. Even you have to admit that he seems to be really worried about all this." I said.

"He's right though. We need to be careful and not let any of us be alone. They easily got Hinata just now. They're not playing around. I'll talk to Killerbee and see if he can find more information on this Yakuza leader."

"Thanks Gaara." I said.

"Just promise me you won't get involved anymore and just leave this to me and the others." Gaara said.

"You're going back to the lollipops?" I asked, surprised.

Gaara made a face. "No, but I'll have to be in more contact with Killerbee and Omoi. I'll advice Temari and Tenten to do the same with Yugito and Fuu."

I was about to say something but Gaara gave me a look that made me shut my mouth. We soon decided to head back to the party as I thought about what Omoi said about me and Ino. Before I started to feel sad again, I felt someone poke my forehead. I looked to see Gaara in front of me. His right index and middle finger still up in the air.

"Hey…" Gaara said. "What happened that night with Ino, it wasn't your fault. Ino doesn't blame you. You put your life on the line for her and the others that night. We almost lost you." Leave it to Gaara to know what I was feeling without me saying anything. He really is my best guy friend.

"But Inoichi-"

"Inoichi is just a blind ass bastard who doesn't know shit because he's so hardhead and prideful." Gaara said as he brought me close to his chest in a brotherly manner. "When he realized what you have done for his family like Hiashi did, he will kick himself for not giving you the thanks and respect you deserve."

"Thanks Gaara!" I grinned while I wiped some tears away. I carefully fixed my mask before grabbing my best friend by the arm and headed back into the ball room. When we entered we made it to see Hinata and a man with long blond hair appear on stage with violins. That guy had to be Neji. I haven't seen the cousins perform since the first time I met Neji.

"Gaara-kun." A voice called out. I looked to see a girl with wavy raven hair.

"Matsuri." Gaara said with a small smile. The girl blushed as she went up to him before looking at me.

"It's me. Sakura." I smiled. Her eyes widened with recognition before giving me a hug.

"I couldn't recognize you at all." Matsuri laughed.

"I'll leave you two. I have someone to find." I said as I waved goodbye and headed down the stairs. I could see Killerbee and Omoi near the stage as a woman with purple hair was with him. I guessed that was Karui and decided to stay away from the trio. I didn't want any more drama happening tonight. Hinata and Neji finally finished performing as everyone applauded.

"T-Thank you." Hinata said as she bowed. I watched with amusement as Killerbee soon came up to Hinata. Towering over her, he soon bent down to whisper something to her ear. She looked at him in surprise before smiling and nodding.

Before anyone knew it, Killerbee grabbed the mic. "YAY!" He said, doing a fist pump.

"YAY!" the crowd shouted back.

"Yo young ones! Blast your worries away, knock'em out of sight! My rap song is filled with passion, baby!"

The audience cheered.

"Now listen to me!" He said pointing to the crowd. "This is a new ENKA rap. It's called GOSAKU! SO THANK YOU!"

"YEA!" Everyone cheered once more.

"YAY!" Killerbee said with tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Oh geez…" I grimace. I looked over to see Hiashi standing next to Tsunade and who I believed to be Killerbee's brother. He was not amused. Before anyone could stop him, he jumped on stage and drop kicked his brother.

"You haven't learned a thing, have you?" A frowned as he looked at his brother.

"Big Bro, your kick is really effective..." Killerbee said with his brother's foot squishing his face.

The older brother cleared his throat before staring at the orchestra. "Let's continue on with the party, shall we?"

I chuckled as music began to play and people began to dance the night away. I decided to go and grab some food and went to the balcony. It was snowing gently as I shivered a bit from the difference in temperature. I placed my plate on the rail as I quietly ate.

"You know, you're going to get sick if you stay out here long without a coat." A deep voice said. I looked to see a man with long dark red hair that was tied into a high ponytail.

"I'll be fine." I said as I continued to eat. I looked to my left to see that he was still there as he leaned against the rail and looked up at the dark sky.

"Why aren't you inside?" I asked as a maid came and took my plate when I finished eating. I hopped onto the rail and turned to face him. Making sure I wouldn't fall, I wrapped my feet around the bars.

"It got too stuffy for me and I saw a beautiful young woman outside and decided to give her company."

"That was nice of you." I said with a blush. Looking at him and listening to his voice, he seemed to be in his late thirties if not forties.

"May I have this dance?" He asked as he lifted his hand in front of me. He seemed nice but I stopped when I remembered what Omoi said.

"_Just be careful from now on. I advise that you have your friends well guarded. The Yakuza is after you and will use your loved ones to get to you. Don't talk to any strangers. Promise me you'll take care of yourself and don't do anything stupid."_

"I'm sorry but I have to get going. Still need to greet the birthday girl." I said with an awkward smile as I jumped to my feet and bowed to the guy.

"It's quite alright Sakura Haruno. We'll see each other soon, being our true selves." He said which confused me but I brushed it off as nothing and walked away. As I got to the door, my eyes widened. How did that guy know my name? I turned around to see he had disappeared.

"Sakura!" A voice called out but I was too busy staring at the empty balcony.

"Sakura, there you are!" Karin said as she clung on to me.

"What's up?" I asked, focusing my atttention on her.

"There's going to be one last dance where we switch partners until midnight and then we get to take off our masks to the last person we dance with. Hopefully I end up dancing with Suigetsu. Wouldn't that be romantic?" Karin squealed. "Are you hoping for Sasuke or Sai?"

At the mention of Sai's name I blushed as I remembered the kiss we shared recently. Karin seemed to notice it as well as she got close to my face.

"Spill it Haruno." Karin grinned.

"SaiandIkissed…" I mumbled fast.

"Hm?"

"Sai and I kissed." I said softly.

"I can't hear you. Speak up."

"Sai and I kissed!" I said as she gasped.

"Oh my! Are you two official?"

"No. We haven't really seen each other since that night since I've been with you guys and he's been doing his own thing."

"Aw. Well go and dance with someone!" She said as she forced me inside the ballroom where people were beginning to pair up.

"K-Karin!" I said as I bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" I muttered as I glared at Karin. She seemed to be off dancing with someone really tall. I figured that to be Jugo. She was probably gonna figure where Suigetsu was at through him. Shaking my head, I looked at the clock in the room to see if was ten minutes until midnight. I ended up dancing with Naruto to Lee, to Gaara, and then to Neji. Neji finally twirled me to my last dance partner.

I looked up to see a man with medium purple hair. "Hello." I greeted.

The man only nodded as we begun to dance. I smiled as he dipped me before bringing me up close to his chest. There was a cue in the song where the men grabbed their dance partners and spun them around in the air. The song begun to die down as me and my dance partner ended up face to face. I lifted my hands to his mask, waiting to see if he would stop me. He didn't. I felt myself hoping this was Sai or even Sasuke. As I was removing his mask, he was taking off his wig. I took it off to see a familiar face with onyx eyes and raven hair.

"Itachi…" I whispered.

"Hello Sakura-san." He said with a soft smile. Quickly looking around, I saw Ino frowning. She didn't end up with Shikamaru. Instead she was the one who ended up with Sai. Shikamaru ended up with one of Hinata's cousins. Hinata was lucky to end up with Naruto. Tenten ended up with Lee. Karin ended up with Suigetsu. Ami ended up with Chouji. Shino and Hana were together. Neji was with Kasumi. Jugo, Kiba, and Kankuro were with a random girl I didn't know. Temari had ended up with Hidan. Gaara was with Matsuri. Sasuke was dancing with Hanabi.

"You seem disappointed. Wished I was my brother or better yet Sai?" Itachi asked as I removed my mask as well. Why was everyone assuming I was waiting for Sasuke or Sai?

"N-No!" I said with a blush, waving my hands in front of me. Looking closely at Itachi, it seemed like something was wrong with him. He seemed paler than usual and he seemed to have hard time breathing. "Are you alright Itachi?"

"Have you seen a man with long dark red hair?" Itachi soon asked.

"Tied up in a high ponytail?" I asked. Itachi's eyes widened as he held me in arms length and looked at me up and down in concern.

"Did he touch you or say anything?"

I shook my head. "No, he just asked me to dance but I declined."

Itachi made a face before walking off. What the heck was that about?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Kabuto and the rest of the yakuza were in his tea room. They were waiting for the other leader to come in order to start their meeting. It was dimmed as the only light they had was of the candles in the room.

"Kabuto-nii?" A small voice said as the door slid open. The closest guy to the door quickly pulled out his sword as he pointed it at Yumiko who gasped in surprise. The sword had sliced a strand of her hair as her onyx eyes widened with fear. Kabuto glared at the man who quickly bowed and muttered an apology to his leader's younger sister.

"Yumiko, what are you doing here? I told you not to go down when we're having a meeting." Kabuto frowned. Yumiko quickly wiped her tears as she held onto the hem of her dress.

"I-I had a nightmare." Yumiko confessed.

"Why didn't you go to mother or father?"

"They're on another business trip." Yumiko frowned.

Kabuto sighed as he rang a bell. In a few minutes, a maid came into the room.

"Yes master Kabuto?" The maid asked with a bow.

"Lani, take Yumiko back into her room and deal with her problem."

"Yes. Also your guest has arrived as well." Lani said as she took Yumiko's hand and led her out of the room.

"Excellent." Kabuto grinned. Hearing a few footsteps, the sliding door opened again to reveal a tall man with long red hair up into a high ponytail. Brushing off some of the snow on his shoulder, he moved next to Kabuto as he took a seat.

"How was the party?" Kabuto asked as he watched the new leader looked at his weird game of chess that he was playing with before he left for the party.

The man grinned as he removed his wig revealing long raven locks that pasted his waist. "She was interesting. However, your men failed to get the Hyuga Heiress." The rest of the Yakuza tried to see what the new leader looked like but it was too dim for them to see. Kabuto watched as five of the black checkers were flicked to the side by a white pawn and the white queen.

"You met Sakura Haruno?" Kabuto asked. The man in front of him soon picked up the white queen.

"S-She threatened us!" One of the lackeys said. "She told us to tell you to face her instead of hiding and having his lackeys do the dirty work for him. Come towards her friends again, she will make your death slow and painful like what happened to Zaku-sempai." He couldn't see much, but he could tell that the new leader was grinning.

"She's a beautiful one. She has the bravery of her father but she looked just like Hana back when I had her in class. I can see why Sasuke-kun is infatuated with her." The leader said as he placed the white queen back down.

"Hana?" Kabuto questioned.

The man took out a picture that revealed a class picture of a science class. Kabuto noticed right away Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, Fugaku Uchiha, Mikoto Harada, Inoichi Yamanaka, Shibi Aburame, the Hyuga twins, Chouza Akimichi, Shikaku Nara, Yoshino Matsui, Tsume Fuijiki, Daisuke Haruno, and a girl who looked just like Sakura. Kabuto read the name as Hana Hitsamasu. There were other students that Kabuto recognize but didn't care. He soon looked for the teacher to see he wasn't there in the picture but the name was. This was the science class of Orochimaru.

"Why weren't you in the picture?" Kabuto asked as he gave it back.

"I had killed the principal during that time. I hated everyone in that class. I was in love with Mikoto. She was so beautiful but that Fugaku stole her away from me. She was a forbidden fruit and she was to be married to him by the end of high school. I hated the school even more because of Minato. I was caught making illegal things in class. The third principal found out what I was planning to do against the school, so I had to silence him once and for all. Fugaku took all the inheritance of the Uchiha clan which was what I was after. Minato and the rest of the guys found out all the information that could ruin me. Hana and Kushina stopped me before I could claim Mikoto as mine." Kabuto watched as the new leader looked down his shirt as he smiled evilly with remembrance. "So I got revenge."

"You were responsible for their deaths…"Kabuto's eyes widened when he came to the conclusion. The man's smirk got bigger.

"Minato was the hardest one to go against. He knew what I was up to from the beginning and tried to protect his wife and Hana. I got Kushina at the hospital by poisoning her before she gave birth to Naruto. The poison was non-detectable so it made it seem like she died from giving birth. Sadly I wasn't able to kill the child. Soon I got Hana and her husband during their business trip with a hired suicide bomber. After Hana's death, Mikoto realized it was me who was killing off her friends after eavesdropping on one of my conversations and warned Fugaku and Minato. So I killed Fugaku and Mikoto and blamed it on their eldest son. However I didn't count on Shikaku and Yoshina being smart enough to figure out it was me…"

"You caused their car accident." Kabuto inferred.

"Sadly no. That was just by chance. I threatened to kill their son, Shikamaru, if they were to say anything."

"You truly are evil." Kabuto commented as he pushed his glasses up.

"However I didn't count on Sakura Haruno to come into the game. All the information Minato and Fugaku had on me had been part of their inheritance. Since Itachi was blamed for killing his family, it soon went to Sasuke. Minato's went to Naruto. I soon realized that Hana had the third part and is now Sakura's."

"But shouldn't her brother have the inheritance since he was the first born?" One of the members asked.

"Secrets will all come out soon." He said as he waved his hand as if talking about the weather.

"We need to get rid of the Itachi and Sasori in order to get to Sasuke and Sakura then." Kabuto said.

"I already set the plan into action when I bumped into dear Itachi earlier at the party. You'll probably notice him getting paler and paler. Now I need to find a way to get to Sasori."

"Wouldn't Itachi say anything to Sasori?" Kabuto asked as the new leader played with the white bishop and rook.

"He knows that if he did, I would go after Sasuke. And I can hold Sakura against Sasori." He said. "For now, I'm just playing with my pawns until the Queen, King, and Knight aren't surrounded by them anymore." The leader said as he looked at the chess game between the two. Checkered pieces were on both sides of the board. All that was left was the white queen, white king, white knight, white bishop, white rook, and the white pawns. On the other side was the black king, queen, and pawns. He soon held onto the black King. "And when everything falls into place, I will use that opportunity to strike. But first, I have to wait for our black knight to make a move."

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****Yes, I gave you more information on the yakuza. I told you to remember Yumiko from the earlier chapters. She will be playing an important part in this story. If you guys didn't get the chest symbolism. Sakura was the White Queen, Naruto was the White King, Sasuke was the White Knight, Itachi was the White Bishop, Sasori was the White Rook, and Ino and the others were the white pawns. The Yazuza are the black counterparts as the new leader is the Black King and Kabuto is the Black Queen. The black knight will be revealed in later chapters. I hoped you guys liked this chapter. It might take me a few weeks to update this story and Cherry Blossom with Devil due to school, but I will be updating much fast once that's over with. Thanks for reading, please review.

-Love Kumiko


	36. Let's Welcome The New Year Together

I wanted to upload this chapter right on New Year's but I've been so busy I didn't have time. But here is the latest installment of this story. Hope you guys enjoy! Happy New Years Everyone!

**Sakura Kiss**

I smiled as I took a sip of my hot chocolate in the kitchen. It was early morning on December 31 and I was reading an article of Tsunade's new achievement. She found a way to stop Breast Cancer and was all over the news. I was so proud of her. I wanted to be a doctor because of her. Shizune heard about my dream and said she'd talk to Tsunade for me. She also had been giving me books to go over. Shizune said it would help. Getting up from my seat with my drink in hand, I walked over to where the boys were.

"YOU CHEATED!" Naruto shouted as he pointed a finger at Sasuke who gave him a cool look.

"Don't be like that just because you suck at this game." Sasuke commented as Naruto turned red with anger.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto cried to me as he was on his knees and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Comfort me!"

I laughed as I looked at the game they were playing. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom.

"It's just a game Naruto." I said petting the top of his head.

"He beat me 15 times!" Naruto exclaimed. "He has to be cheating somehow."

"Or you just suck." Shino said as he grabbed the controller to play against Sasuke.

"Heh." Neji let out a laugh as he flipped to the next page of his book. He was sitting on the couch reading. Sai was on the other side of the couch drawing something in his drawing pad. Shikamaru was sitting down near the window seat.

"Yes, I'll be there by 6. I'll pick up Konohamaru on the way. See you later Sensei." Shikamaru said as he hung up.

"Who was that?" I asked as I took a seat next to him. I had my back against the wall as the window was on my right side. I placed my feet on top of Shikamaru's left thigh.

"It was Asuma-sensei. He wants me to join him for New Years."

I mentally frowned as I remembered the mother goal. I was supposed to have the boys want to spend New Years with me. but if they had other plans, I had to let them go. That just didn't seem fair, now did it?

"Oh yeah! Today is New Years! I'm supposed to spend it with Iruka-sensei tonight! He's like an older brother to me." Naruto grinned.

"I'll be spending it with my family." Shino and Neji said at the same time.

"Kakashi-sensei offered me to join it with him." Sasuke said as he had defeated Shino in the game.

"I'll be with Yamato-sensei." Sai said with a fake smile.

"You'll be with your brother tonight huh?" Naruto assumed with a smile. I forced myself to smile. Sasori had emailed me last night that he was going to an art show case. His art was the main attraction and he had to be present for it. He had apologized for not being able to spend it with me. It was fine though. I had always spent New Year's by myself. What would make this year any different?

"I'll be going to the New Year festival downtown." I smiled. Well, I wasn't lying. Back when I lived in the park, I would go there by myself sometimes and watch the ball drop with confetti.

"That sounds fun!" Naruto grinned before talking more about what he and Iruka had planned. I soon looked out the window. What was fun about going to a festival all alone?

XxXXxXxXxXxXxX

A couple hours later, Kakashi appeared at the house with a package.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted. I looked at the clock. It was 5:50 in the afternoon. The boys were getting ready to go to their families. They each had a kimono for the special occasion.

"You're late Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke has been waiting for you for almost two hours. I thought you were supposed to come by four to go buy stuff for tonight." I frowned.

"Ah, well you see Sakura, I saw this old woman who needed help with her bags. So being the kind man I am, I helped her a-"

"Save it." I said not impressed.

"Well, this is for you." He smiled as he handed me the package. "I hope you're keeping your part of the deal with this goal and hadn't told the sons you were going to be by yourself tonight."

"No. of course not." I said, still a bit sad I wouldn't be able to spend New Year's with my boys.

"Did you want to join Sasuke and me tonight?" Kakashi asked.

"No, I don't want to intrude. I've been alone for New Years since I was little. I'm used to it. I'll probably just go to the festival tonight." I said with a smile. Kakashi gave me a look before patting my head.

"Well you're always welcome to come over anytime. Just give me a call." Kakashi smiled.

"He's flirting with her again!" An angry voice said. The two of us looked to see Naruto frowning at our English teacher. He was wearing a simple red Kimono with navy blue slacks. "Leave Sakura alone Pervert! You're almost as bad as Genma-sensei!"

"Now now, Naruto." Kakashi said. "I'm not that bad." He said as he pulled out his familiar orange book.

"Let's go." Sasuke said glaring at Kakashi as he came out of his room as well. Sasuke soon turned me and pinched my cheeks. He was wearing a navy blue kimono with light blue slacks. "Have a good New Year with your brother." Kakashi raised an eye brow at me but said nothing.

"Thanks Sasuke." I said as I waved them off.

"Don't open the package until later!" Kakashi said before entering his car and driving off with Sasuke.

Naruto placed a scarf around his neck before placing a friendly kiss to my forehead. "I'm off! I'm going to meet Iruka-sensei at Ichiraku!"

"Bye Naruto!" I waved goodbye. Soon Shikamaru came out of his room. He was wearing a dark green kimono with gray slacks.

"I'm going to go now!" Shikamaru said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Have fun! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Hold up!" Neji said as he, Shino, and Sai came down. "We'll walk out with you." Neji had a white kimono with navy blue slacks. Shino had a black kimono with white slacks. Sai had a purple kimono with dark grey slacks.

"Have a fun time!" I said as I gave each one of them a hug. _Please don't go._

"We will." Sai smiled.

"You sure you don't want to join either of us for a while? Sasori can pick you up at one of the houses." Shino asked.

My heart warmed with how considerate they were. But they should be spending it with their families, not me, who was their fake mother.

"It's fine. You guys should spend time with your important people!" I smiled. Taking my answer, they nodded and walked away. I watched until I couldn't see them anymore. I soon dropped the fake smile before closing the door behind me. I spotted the package Kakashi had gave me and decided to open it. My eyes widened as I pulled out a beautiful kimono. It was a pinkish orange kimono with a red layer under. There was a gold obi around the waist. On top of it was a beautiful dark pink hair piece. It had a mixture of white, light blue, and gold in the middle. There was a note as well. Picking it up, I began to read it.

_Hey lovely Sakura,_

_This kimono belonged to your mother when she was about your age. Tsunade had kept this after your mother passed away. I decided it would be good to pass it down to you. I hope you can wear it to the festival tonight if you're going. Have a good new year._

_-Kakashi_

My mother's kimono? I smiled as I soon went to put it on. I soon went to my room and pulled out the only picture I had of my family. I could feel the tears that always came on this day of the year. Looking out the large window, I could see the lights and decorations all around the city. I watched as families and friends were walking to either a festival or someone's house.

"Happy New Year..." I muttered before closing my eyes. The tears began.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Was it just me or did Sakura-san look sad?" Shino asked as he fixed his glasses. The four were closing to their first stop, Shino's home.

"She seemed fine to me." Neji said looking at his brother.

"No, I know what you're talking about." Shikamaru said. "As troublesome as it seems, Sakura seemed upset when Naruto brought up about going to Iruka's for New Year."

"Shika-kun?" a voice said. The boys looked to see the Yamanaka cousins walking down the street with groceries.

"Ino." Shikamaru greeted as he went to kiss her. Ino looked at the brothers as her face scrunched up. She then looked at her boyfriend before her brows furrowed.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ino asked.

"I'm heading to Asuma-sensei's, Sai's going to Yamato-sensei's, and they're going to their families." He said pointing at Shino and Neji.

"But Sakura told me she was gonna spend the New Years with you guys when Gaara invited her to come over for New Years."

"I thought she was going to the festival with her brother." Sai said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Sasori?" Deidara frowned. "He's on his way to San Francisco right now for an art show. He told Sakura last night."

"Then why would she tell us that she was going to be with Sasori?" Shikamaru asked.

"Maybe she didn't want to intrude with our families." Deidara shrugged.

"Sakura has spent New Year's alone ever since she was little. We've always tried to have her come over for New Year's, but she always declined. She just smiled and told us to spend it with our families. So when she told us that she'd be spending it with you guys, I was really happy. She seemed really happy too." Ino frowned. "She's going to be alone again for New Year's."

Soon Ino's phone rang as she went to answer it.

"Yes Dad, Deidara and I are on the way home."

Silence.

"No dad! I'm not with Sakura. I'm seriously with Deidara. You can even talk to him."

Silence.

"Alright. Bye." Ino hanged up the phone before looking at the brothers with an apologetic face. "Sorry about that. My cousin and I have to go now. Have a good New Year's." The cousins soon left the brothers alone.

"How were we supposed to know?" Sai frowned. "She was seeing us off with a smile..."

"Damn it." Neji frowned before his phone rang. Answering it, he heard Naruto's voice on the phone.

"OI! NEJI! Go back home! Sakura is alone by herself!" Naruto screamed.

"Wait, how did you know?" Neji asked.

"Sasuke called me. He found out from Kakashi. We're on the way home right now. You guys better be there too. How could we leave her alone?"

Neji hung up the phone as he began to make a dash home. The others followed. After a couple minutes, they could see Naruto and Sasuke running from the other direction.

"OI!" Naruto called out. Everyone made it to the door as Shino was the one who went to open it.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as they all entered the house. It was dark and quiet. The only light in the house was coming from the kitchen. The brothers had split up to look for their mother. They all made it to Sakura's room at the end. Naruto was the one who opened the door as Shikamaru flipped the lights on. There they found Sakura sitting on the floor as she was leaning against her bed. In her hands was a picture of Sakura and her family when she was little. The boys could see her tear-stained cheeks.

"Hey Ugly…" Sai said as he made it up to Sakura and gently shook her by the shoulders. "Hey wake up."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

I could feel someone shaking me as I slowly opened my eyes to see Sai right in front of my face. My eyes widened as I could feel my face flush. Looking behind him, I saw my other sons who were out of breath.

"Sai? Guys? What are you doing home?" I asked. It seemed like I was crying when I took a nap because Sasuke soon came up to me and wiped my cheek with his sleeve. Then all at once, they all fell to their knees to catch their breath.

"Idiot." Sasuke muttered. I tilted my head at his comment.

"Why didn't you tell us that you'd be alone for New Year's?" Neji frowned.

My face turned even redder for getting caught in that lie. "How did you guys-"

"We found out from Ino and Kakashi." Shikamaru answered. Mentally I made a note to treat Ino and Kakashi out first thing of the New Year.

"I-I figured that you guy should have spend it with family or you're important person." I mumbled.

I heard someone sigh which sounded like it came from Naruto. Naruto was soon crouched down in front of me as he lifted his left hand in front of my face as he forced my right hand touch his.

"Sakura-chan, you're supposed to be the smartest person ever after Shikamaru." Naruto grinned. Sasuke and Sai who was crouched down next to me looked at Naruto. "After all this time with us, did you really believe you wouldn't be considered an important person to us?"

"But we're not related by b-"

"It doesn't mean we're still not a family dummy." Naruto took this as the moment to lace his hand in mine. "Even if we weren't related to each other by blood, I would always consider you family. To be honest, instead of a mom, I've been always looking at you as my older sister." My eyes widened as more tears began to fill in my eyes. Is what being a family felt like? Naruto and the others took my tears as a bad sign because they began to freak out.

"What did you do now dobe?" Sasuke snarled and everyone got closer to me.

"I didn't mean to make her cry!" Naruto cried.

"Idiot." Shino said bonking Naruto on top of his head.

"This is so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed.

"I-I'm so happy." I cried as I wiped my tears.

Neji just chuckled as he lifted me up to my feet and wiped my tears away. "You cry too much, do you know that? And you used to be a gang leader…" He shook his head as I playfully punched his arm.

"We can still make it to the festival downtown." Sai said as he rested his pale hand on my head.

"Can we go?" I asked excitedly.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Kakashi and Shizune looked up at the Namikaze household.

"I felt bad and ended up telling Sasuke and Naruto." Kakashi said as he looked at Shizune. "Does this void the goal?"

Shizune was silent for a bit as she adjusted the pig in her arms. A smile slowly appeared on her face. "No, let her win this one. Let's go to the festival now." She said as she linked arms with the silver-haired man next to her and began to walk away from the house. "Genma and Rin should be meeting us there."

Kakashi just chuckled before looking back at the house.

"Happy New Year's Sakura." Kakashi smiled as he followed his partner in crime. Hopefully the New Year would be what Minato wished for his family.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

My eyes twinkled with excitement as well all made it to the festival. It was lively and colorful. It was lightly snowing as there was an hour until countdown. We spent the time taking pictures, courtesy of Shizune who we bumped into there with Kakashi, Genma, and a woman who I saw at the hospital that one time. We also went to visit the booths and games. Finally the countdown began as people at the park screamed happily.

"10!"

I looked around to see people getting drinks ready!

"9!"

Kakashi came by and offered us all a cup.

"8!"

I took a sniff. It was apple cider.

"7!"

The large ball was slowly opening above us.

"6!"

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

I quickly made my wish as did everyone else. I wished that the New Year would be full of fun and excitement with my family.

The ball above opened as it released confetti and glitter all over the place. People began to cheer and drink. People were hugging and kissing each other as they greeted one another. I went to each son to give a kiss on the cheek as fireworks above us exploded into beautiful art. Since multiple fireworks went off, people were moving around to go somewhere else. Some drunkard accidentally bumped into me causing me to bump into someone else.

"Saku-"Sasuke's voice was caught off for some reason. I felt the person wrap their arm around my waist as we fell to the ground.

"We've got to stop bumping into each other like this." A familiar voice said. The person had a necklace that resembled that of a black knight from a chess game. The person had dark red hair and green eyes. Looking up, my eyes widened as I realized who it was. So did my sons.

"HIKARU?" Everyone said shocked.

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I know the chapter was very short, but I've been suffering from a writer's block and I've also been very busy. So this is all I could come up with, sorry but I hoped you guys liked it. Yes, Hikaru is back from Sound Academy. If you don't remember go back to the earlier chapters. He has a purpose in this story and you'll find out what it is in later chapters. Please review everyone.

-Love Kumiko


	37. Raiko Ishida

I'M SO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO UPDATE IN A WHILE! Life just caught up with me. Today is my birthday and I wanted to upload something and also because **Futurefanfictioner** asked me to do so. This chapter is pretty short but it is still something. Hope you guys enjoy it.

**Sakura Kiss**

"What are you doing here?" I asked Hikaru who was standing in front of me smiling. Naruto was glaring daggers at the red head.

"Is something wrong Naruto?" Hikaru asked innocently.

"THE HELL THERE IS!" Naruto screeched as he got up and pointed at Hikaru. "As if we don't remember what you did to Sakura-chan before you left, you bastard!"

"And what is it that I did to Sakura?" Hikaru smirked. Sighing, I raised my arm to bonk Naruto across the head.

"Don't be so rude!" I scolded him as I rolled my eyes afterwards. Did Hikaru really have to tease my sons so much?

"He didn't do anything." Sai said with confidence. "He just whispered something to her. From our view, it looked like he kissed her."

"Aw, you're no fun Sai-kun!" Hikaru pouted.

"Don't call me that…" Sai said narrowing his eyes at the boy.

"You never answered Sakura-san's question." Shino said as he fixed his glasses. "What are you doing here?"

As I waited for Hikaru to answer, I took a moment to really look at him. It seemed like he grew since the last time we met. His red hair that used to be as short as Kiba's now had reached past his chin. He had his bangs to the right. He seemed to have a random scar on his chest that I could see due to his open shirt. It looked like he got it recently. He had a black necklace that resembled that of a knight piece in a chess game. How odd.

"I decided to move back here. Sound Academy wasn't for me so I joined this program where another student and I can come to this school." Hikaru smiled. "I hope you don't mind me asking if I could stay with you guys again."

"Of course not." I answered in a tone that left for no arguments. "It would be nice to have some help in the house." I continued, playfully glaring at my sons.

"We help you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said crawling up to me and sounded as he was offended by my comment.

"Oh really?" I raised an eyebrow at him while waiting for him to give me examples. He couldn't. "I thought so."

Everyone laughed as I shook my head. School was about to start in a week. I honestly couldn't wait for the new semester! We would all be graduating soon.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"We need to make this semester the most memorable one!" Ino said.

Everyone decided to have a night out before school started. We were all hanging out at the Hyuga mansion for dinner. Hikaru was moving his stuff back into the old room. He told me his parents were still staying in their new house.

"How so?" I asked. I could see Neji, Kankuro, Lee, Temari, and Tenten tune us out a bit. They were already in college and didn't need to worry about high school anymore.

"You just want to be part of the student council." Naruto smirked.

Ino blushed for getting caught. "Well, since you guys will be doing basketball this season, you all would probably leave the work to poor forehead here!"

"That is true!" Karin said as she fixed her glasses. "The girls will substitute the guys when they're busy!"

"Oh really?" Suigetsu raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "What would you girls do to make the Student Council better?"

"H-Have morning announcements!" Hinata suggested. "Like a talk show or something."

"More festivals and activities!" Karin said.

"Have the Student Council of '10 leave high school with a bang!" Ino grinned. Everyone paused and looked at Ino.

"Now we know you and Deidara really are related!" Tenten laughed.

"Well that's all nice and all…" I spoke up. "…But that all depends on my sons."

"Hn." Sasuke said.

"That means sure!" Naruto smiled.

"May I speak to Sakura for a bit?" A voice said. Everyone looked to see Shizune smiling at everyone as she was standing behind Gaara and Kankuro.

"How does she do that?" Naruto yelled.

I rolled my eyes as I followed Shizune to the backyard. She soon handed a scroll to me.

"What's this?" I questioned her.

"It's your next mother goal!" She smiled.

I unrolled it and read my next goal out loud.

"Involve all the sons in a snowball fight." I raised an eyebrow and stared at Shizune.

"Is something wrong dear?" Shizune tilted her head innocently.

"That's it?" I asked.

"That's it." She smiled.

"There's no hidden agenda?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Why would we do something like that?" Shizune batted her eyes as me. Psh, please! She and Kakashi are the evil duo. "Well I see that Hikaru is back."

I was thrown off by the change of conversation. "Uh, yeah, is that a problem?"

"Nothing at all. I'll leave you now. See you at school." Shizune threw me a small smile before disappearing.

Walking back to my friends, I saw Shino coming outside.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked as I skipped towards him.

"They sent me to see what you and Shizune were talking about." By 'they' I knew he was talking about the boys. "They were wondering if she was talking to you about Minato's inheritance."

"Minato's inheritance…" I repeated before I frowned. Kakashi and Shizune said nothing about inheritance to me before. However Neji and the others first thought that was what I was after. I made a mental note to ask the evil duo the next time I saw them.

"Shall we go back inside now, Sakura-san?" Shino asked. I nodded as he took the lead inside. Bending down, I grabbed a snow and quickly formed it into a ball before aiming. I watched as I hit my target as Shino stopped walking.

He slowly turned around. I couldn't tell if he was glaring at me from behind his shades. That was the scary part. "Did you just hit me with a snowball?"

I quickly pressed my hands together in front of me as I closed my eyes. "I'm sorry Shino. I just couldn't help it. You see it was part of my-EEEEK!" I screamed as I felt something cold hit my face.

Looking up, I could see Shino covering his mouth with his hand. My eyes widened. Was Shino…laughing? Supposedly, I wasn't the only one shocked. Everyone came out to see what was going on only to stop and stare at Shino.

"S-Shino-kun…" Hinata called out worried.

I couldn't help but start to laugh as well as I gave him a look. We nodded as we made some more snowballs and threw it at Naruto and Kiba. Everyone's eyes shined as we all formed into groups. On my team were Sai, Hinata, Naruto, Kiba, Lee, and Tenten. On Shino's team were Shikamaru, Ino, Temari, Kankuro, Karin, and Suigetsu. The only people not playing were Sasuke, Neji, Gaara, and Jugo.

"Come join us Sasuke!" Naruto and I sang as he glared at us.

"I'm not joining this stupid game."

"Ah." Neji nodded.

"Don't be a party pooper, Neji!" Tenten grinned as she threw a snowball at him.

"TENTEN!" He glared only to be met with another snowball.

"Gaara! Come on!" Temari pleaded.

"Yeah Jugo. Play with us!" Suigetsu grinned.

The girls and I decided to throw snowballs at them until they joined. Sasuke and Gaara joined my group and Neji and Jugo joined Shino's. Before we all knew it, we had an all-out snowball fight that didn't end for hours. In the corner of my eyes, I could see a couple of Hinata's and Neji's relatives coming and checking out what the noise was. Hanabi and Hiashi came and sat down with tea as they watched. Hanabi was taking pictures.

I laid back on the snowy ground and smiled. What a good way to start the New Year! With school starting tomorrow, I couldn't help but feel that exciting things were going to happen.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

HOW THE HELL COULD I BE LATE FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL? THOSE JERKS DIDN'T EVEN WAKE ME UP!

Breathe Sakura! It's only 7am. School doesn't start until another thirty minutes. You could always take the bus.

And that's where I found myself, standing at the bus stop waiting. The moment I see one of those sons of mine, they'll be talking to my fists! SHANNARO!

I was the only one for a couple of minutes until a limo came and a girl walked out. She had long grayish purple hair that was lightly curled. She has viridian eyes that went well with her hair. She looked like she came out of a model magazine.

"Madame, are you sure you are going to take the bus? Do you even know how to get there?" The butler asked. The girl just nodded as the butler sighed. "As you wish, Madame. I will however pick you up later."

I watched as the limo drove us leaving just me and the girl. I slowly looked up to see her looking down at me. She was taller than me.

"Sakura." She said.

HUH?

"Excuse me?" I raised an eye brow at her. How did she know my name?

"Your hair is pink…" She smiled. "…and you have green eyes. You look like a flower or a fairy. The name Sakura suits you."

I blushed as I smiled back. "Thanks. That's actually my name." I gave out a nervous laugh.

"How pretty." She smiled. Soon the bus came as we both we aboard. It was pretty crowded so we chose to stand. I noticed that she was looking at my uniform intensely.

"You go to Konoha Academy?" She asked.

"Yeah, I got in because I passed the entrance exam." I said.

"I heard the exams for that are pretty hard. I'm actually going to attend Konoha Academy as well."

"You wouldn't happen to be the other student that's transferring with Hikaru, are you?" I asked.

"Yes. You know Hikaru-kun?"

I nodded. "He lived with me and my sons last semester." I soon paused as I realized how odd that sounded.

"You have sons?" She asked.

"It's complicated. Anyways, I can show you around the campus since I'm part of the Student Council." Right when I said that, she grabbed me by the shoulders.

"You're part of the student council? Are the Namikaze brothers still a part of it?"

"Yeah, they're my sons." I said.

"So you know Sai-kun…" She whispered. It soon got awkward but we finally reached the school and we got off the bus.

"Hey!" I called out as I saw her beginning to walk away. "I never got your name!"

She looked at me for a bit before giving me a smile. "My name is Raiko, Raiko Ishida."

As she walked away, I tried to figure out why her name sounded so familiar.

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And there you have it. I will try to update much quicker now that I won't be as busy as before. I want to thank everyone who has stuck to this story so far. This has been the longest I've written yet and there will be more chapters coming up soon. Please wait for my next update. I love you guys.

Kumiko


	38. The Yakuza Strikes Again

****Hey readers, its been a while, I know. School is dying down and I've finally found time to update this story. Let's just go straight to the chapter people have been waiting for. Enjoy.

**Sakura Kiss**

The first thing I did when I got to Genma's class was give a death glare to Naruto who slowly slunk under his desk.

"You're late Haruno." Genma said as he moved that long toothpick to the other side of his mouth. "Since this is your first time and you're cute, I'll excuse you."

"Perv…" Kiba muttered as I chose to sit next to him. "You're usually never late."

"I wonder why?" I growled as I turned around to face Naruto.

"W-We tried to wake you up, but you looked so adorable sleeping, we didn't want to disturb your sleep. Hikaru suggested that we just let you sleep in today."

"Did he now?" I frowned as I turned around and tried to pay attention to Genma.

I soon fell into thought about the girl I met earlier. Raiko. Raiko. Seriously! Where have I heard that name before?

"S-Sakura-chan." Hinata's timid voice broke my thoughts as I looked up. Class was over. "Oh, sorry Hinata." I let out a laugh of embarrassment as I gathered my things. Hinata gave me a worried look but I just gave her smile and headed to Stats class. I was in for a surprise when I saw Iruka-sensei standing before the class.

"Iruka-sensei?" I tilted my head in surprise.

"Good morning Sakura." Iruka greeted.

"What happened to Kurenai-sensei?" Shino asked coming into the classroom. Sasuke and Shikamaru were staring at Iruka-sensei waiting for an answer.

"For some reason, Kurenai asked to get her old job as the art teacher back. I decided to take her job as the Stats teacher. That's how it used to be two years ago." Iruka said before getting ready to teach the class. I looked at my sons to see them giving each other looks. I didn't question them about it and got ready to take notes.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Forehead!" Ino said running up to me. Behind her were Hinata and Karin. They seemed out of breath.

"Ino-pig, what's wrong?" I asked as I held her up.

"Have…Have you seen Sai?" She asked.

"I haven't seen him yet, but we all have class with him next. Why, what's up?" I frowned. I had a feeling I wouldn't like what I was going to hear next.

"The new student other than Hikaru…" Karin frowned. "…is Raiko Ishida. That was Sai's ex girlfriend."

I was right. That's where I heard that name before. Raiko Ishida was Sai's first and only girlfriend. She was the girl that got Sai into art. She was the girl that stole his art works. She was the girl that slept with Sasuke while still with Sai. She was the one who broke Sai's heart.

"I'm trying to warn him before she confronts him first. He needs to be emotionally prepared for her." Ino frowned. "That bitch! If she's here to cause problems, I'll mess up her face."

"Come on!" I said taking action. "We have to hurry then."

Heading to class, we saw that a fight was beginning to start due to everyone circling around the room. As part of the Student Council, I began to take charge. Shoving my way through the crowd, I began to yell. The girls followed after me.

"What's going on here?" I demanded to know. In front of me was Ami glaring at Raiko.

"What the hell do you think you're doing back here?" Ami growled.

"There's bad blood between them." Karin whispered. "They used to be best friends before Ami found out that she slept with Sasuke. You know how much Ami used to like him before."

I quickly looked around to see Naruto and my sons just watching. Sasuke had this indescribable look on his face.

"Sakura, we have to find Sa-"Hinata began to say but stopped as she gasped. Looking to see what she was looking at was Sai at the door. His blank expression changed to that of surprise and hurt.

"R-Raiko…" Sai muttered in disbelief. Raiko turned around as she gave Sai a small smile.

"Hello Sai-kun. It's been a while." She spoke. Soon Sai ran out of the class room.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out. I didn't realize until Naruto shouted but I was chasing after Sai.

"Sai! Wait!" I called out. I followed him to the unoccupied staircase towards the roof.

Sai stood straight and made no sound.

"Please leave me alone right now…" Sai said. I could see his fist shaking.

"I don't want to leave you alone." I whispered as I walked closer to him and held onto his left hand.

"Why is she here?" Sai asked as he placed his right hand over his heart.

"She's the other student from Sound." I answered.

"Damn it." He growled as he pulled his hand out of mine harshly. "How much more pain can she cause?"

"Don't let her get to you then." I said, getting a bit irritated with his behavior. "Show her that she can't affect you anymore."

"I can't…" Sai said as he took a seat against the wall. I followed after him and gulped. I was afraid to ask my question and what he would say. I asked anyways.

"Are you still in love with Raiko?" I soon held my breath as I waited for his answer.

"I'm in love with you, remember?" He said with a small smile as he took my left hand in his right and kissed it.

I couldn't help but blush. "Sai…"

"Stay away from her. Promise me. She's up to no good." Sai frowned.

"It's been a while since you've met her, right? Maybe she changed for the better." I slowly said.

"Promise me." He urged and I couldn't help but nod my head.

"I promise…" Helping each other up, I gave him a smile as we walked back to class.

Entering the class room, all eyes were on Sai and me as we walked to our desks near the window. Our classmates began to whistle. Kakashi still wasn't in the classroom, no surprise there. Sitting down, I looked to see Raiko sitting in the back near the door as she was staring directly at me. It was as if she was analyzing me or something. She soon gave me a smile before turning around to face the front.

"Is Sai okay?" Hinata asked me. I nodded. Kakashi entered the classroom and class began.

XxXxXxXxXxX

By the time I got to my art class, I saw Kurenai and Sai talking in a corner of the room. She had a sad look on her face as she stared at the large canvas in the room that Sai and Raiko created a few years back. She said something as Sai shook his head and had an angry expression on his face. They soon noticed me as Sai moved to his desk and Kurenai greeted me.

"Hello Sakura-san, how are you?"

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" I asked as I looked at Sai. He was already working on something.

"Not at all." Kurenai smiled. "As you probably guessed, I'm going to be the art teach from now on. I just love teaching this class."

"I heard from Iruka-sensei that you used to be the art teacher before. If you loved it so much, why did you go to stats?"

"That's because-"

"Kurenai-sensei!" A voice called out. Looking at the door, Raiko stood there prettily as she went and hugged Kurenai. "It's been so long seen we've last seen each other." I watched as Kurenai tensed up from the contact but gently patted Raiko on the back.

"Yes. Yes it has. When I heard you had transferred back here, I was well…surprised."

"Yes, well, I couldn't help but come back. I missed everyone so much."

Looking at the corner of my eye, I saw Sai getting more aggressive in his artwork. I sighed. Looking out the window, I saw a suspicious figure near the front gates of the school. We made eye contact as he signaled for me to come to him.

"Uh Kurenai-sensei may I be excused?" I asked.

She looked at the clock. "Class hasn't even started yet." Hinata, Shino, and Sai looked up at me in curiosity.

"I-I have something to check out. I'll be right back!" I said as I left the room. Rushing to the front gates, I went to catch my breath as I scouted the area. I spotted him to the right side. His body was covered in bandages except for his left eye. He was wearing a black jacket and black hat.

"Are you Sakura Haruno?" He asked.

I narrowed my eyes. "Depends on who's asking."

"Word is that you want to know about how you're connected to the new Yakuza." The man handed me a piece of paper with an address on it. My eyes widened. How did he know that? "If you don't want anything to happen to the Namikaze brothers, you will follow me right now."

"I have class." I frowned before walking away.

"We also have information about your mother and her connection to Minato Namikaze." I stopped in my tracks.

"I already know. They were friends in high school." I smirked.

"But is that the whole truth? You've been surrounded by lies. This is the only chance you get."

"I don't even know who you are." I frowned. The man smirked as he stuck out his hand. "The name is Dosu. Dosu Kinuta."

I looked back up to the classroom that I saw him in earlier before looking back at Dosu and shaking my head. I didn't like the vibe I was getting from this guy. "Nice to meet you but I have a class to return to."

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Man, that guy was a creep…" I muttered to myself as I entered the house.

"Where did you go earlier during art class?" Shino asked as his brothers and Hikaru entered the house.

"Nothing of importance." I answered as I entered the kitchen to prepare dinner by the time Neji came home from school. "What do you guys want for dinner?" I asked out loud.

"RAM-"

"No." Everyone said. Naruto pouted and went to a corner.

"Anything with tomatoes please." Sasuke said.

"I think we're out of tomatoes." I frowned.

Naruto began to laugh, only stopping shortly as Sasuke threw his slipper at his face. "Shut up dobe."

"No worries. I need to do some grocery shopping. You guys want anything at the market?" I asked as I took out a notepad. The men began to tell me what they wanted as I jotted it all down.

"All right. I'll be back soon. So just set the table and clean around the house please." I ordered as I put on my thick jacket and scarf.

"Would you like me to accompany you?" Hikaru asked.

I looked down at the list, which wasn't a lot, and shook my head. "I got it." I smiled and put on my boots.

"If you say so." Hikaru shrugged before whipping out his cell phone and began to text someone.

The closest market was five blocks away and with how deep the snow was, it wouldn't take me that long. Looking down at the list, I couldn't help but smile. As I turned the corner to make it to the block the market was on, I hit something hard and landed on my butt.

"I'm so sorry." I muttered as I bowed.

"No problem at all Haruno-san." A familiar voice said. Looking up, it was Dosu from earlier. He stuck out his right hand to help me up which I took.

"Thanks…" I said as I brushed some of the snow off me.

"Be careful the next time. You don't know what dangers you could bump into." He said. Before I could ask what he was talking about. I felt something prick my neck. I gasped and covered my next and turned around to see a man with white hair and pale jade eyes.

"Good job Kimimaro." Dosu's voice seemed off and that when I realized that I was drugged. My vision began to get blurry as I begun to sway.

"D-Damn you…" I growled as I felt the Kimimaro person put his arm around my waist.

"Let's go for a walk, shall we?" He smirked as I tried to fight him.

"Put her in the van." Dosu ordered.

"L-Let go o-of me…" My words began to slur. I was in deep shit. I tried to look around for anyone to help me. No one.

"It would have been easier if you came with me with first time." Dosu taunted.

The last thing I remembered before I blacked out was Dosu taking my shopping list and tearing it to pieces. "Let's not leave any evidence."

When I woke up again, I realized that I was in a van tied up and had gagged. The vehicle came to a stop as the side door opened.

"Well, looks like the princess is awake." Kimimaro said as he pulled me out of the van and took off the cloth from my mouth. I was still under the influence of the drug as I couldn't move my body.

I began to scream since it was the only thing I could do.

"Shut that bitch up!" Dosu ordered. Kimimaro slapped me hard across the face as my head collided with the van.

"That was for Zaku." Kimimaro frowned. Zaku-that was the guy who tried to shoot me but hurt Sasuke instead. Naruto had beaten him to death right after. Soon Omoi's words came to mind.

"_Just be careful from now on. I advise that you have your friends well guarded. The Yakuza is after you and will use your loved ones to get to you. Don't talk to any strangers. Promise me you'll take care of yourself and don't do anything stupid."_

I was dealing with the Yakuza. Mentally cursing at myself for getting into this situation, I quickly looked around. It seemed like we were by a riverbank and we were under the bridge.

"Where are the others? I thought you told them we got the girl?" Dosu asked.

"Kabuto should be on his way. While we're waiting, why don't we have a little fun with her? She's very cute." Kimimaro smirked as he brought his face close to mine.

I growled as I spat at him. I was soon thrown to the ground as he hovered over me. I felt cold hands begin to take off my clothes. Why couldn't I move? As if reading my thoughts, Dosu answered.

"We injected you with a paralyzing drug that our new leader created. It causes the person injected with it to feel dizzy. It slows down body reaction to the point of a paralyzed state. In other words, you're going to be screwed."

"Literally." Kimimaro commented as I felt him smirk against my neck. He lifted my shirt up as my bra was exposed for him to see. "Nice."

"Stop!" I screamed. He didn't budge. Dosu held me down as Kimimaro began to kiss up my stomach while his right hand moved to squeeze my breast. He forced a kiss on my lips.

"STOP!" I cried out as I bit his lip hard.

"Bitch!" Kimimaro cursed as he raised his hand to strike me.

Just before anything could happen, Kimimaro was thrown off me while Dosu was kicked into the river.

"Doesn't seem like you got a fuckin consent from her, bastard." All I saw was my savior grabbing Kimimaro by the neck, choking him.

"W-Who are you?" Kimimaro struggled to ask.

My savior smirked. "I'm the person who'll kick your ass by the power of Jashin." Hidan.

"When her brother finds out, you guys are dead." Kisame.

"They're going to be dead already, yeah." Deidara.

"Sexually abusing a woman? Unforgivable." Konan.

Konan went to me as she put back my clothes and held me protectively while the guys did the work. I heard a loud crack from Kimimaro. Hidan had broken his legs and right arm. I looked over to Dosu seeing that Kisame and Deidara were taking turns punching the guy while the other held him as a punching bag.

"I'm sorry we're late." Konan said. "We were walking when we saw them throw you into their van. We quickly followed after you. You'll be alright now dear. Just sleep."

"P-Please don't tell Sasori." I said. I didn't want him to worry.

"I can't promise you that. He has the right to know." Konan argued.

"Please! At least don't t-tell him I was almost…I was almost…" Tears began to roll down my cheeks as I heard the guys come closer.

"We won't say a thing, right guys?" Konan had a tone that left no room for arguing. They nodded but I could tell they didn't agree. Deidara came and lifted me up.

"Doesn't seem like you can move yet, yeah? We'll take you to the hospital to have you checked."

"Thank you…" I said as I drifted to sleep in Deidara's arms.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Where's Sakura-chan? It's been two hours!" Naruto whined as he looked outside the window of the living room like a dog waiting for its master to return. The boys were all there doing their own thing while waiting for Sakura's return.

"Stop complaining. Sakura is fine. She probably bumped into someone she knew." Sasuke grumbled. It didn't go unnoticed that he kept looking back at the clock before surfing through the channels for the tenth time.

"But two hours?" Shikamaru frowned as he yawned from sleeping. "The market is only five blocks away."

"I knew I should have gone with her. Maybe she landed in some trouble." Hikaru pouted.

"I'm sure Sakura can handle herself." Neji said as he opened his eyes from meditating in the corner of the room. "She was a gang leader once."

"Still two hours is a long time to be gone." Sai commented as he paused in his artwork.

"The market is close by." Shino said as he fixed his glasses.

Soon the doorbell rang as Naruto was the first to open the door.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto cheered and lunged at the person for a hug.

"I'm not Sakura." Naruto looked up to see Kakashi glaring at him.

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "What are you doing here?"

"Get ready. We're going to the hospital." Kakashi said before turning around.

"Why?" Sasuke asked getting up from the couch.

"Because you guys let Sakura go out by herself, she was attacked." Kakashi said angrily before shaking his head and going into his car. Everyone felt their heart drop to their stomach.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"We found evidence of being drugged in your blood but we haven't seen anything like it." Tsunade frowned as she gave me a check-up.

"It was something the new leader supposedly created." I said angrily. If I had control of my body, I would have kicked those bastards' asses.

"From now on, you're not allowed to go anywhere by yourself." Tsunade ordered.

"WHAT?" I said shock. "You can't do that."

"Sakura, look what happened because you were by yourself. If it wasn't for Konan and the others, you would have been a victim of rape." Tsunade glared at me like a mother would.

"I could have handled them." I defended myself while looking at the ground.

"Oh really, so getting drugged and tied up is handling them?" She challenged. My eyes widened as I felt as if she just slapped me across the face.

"Oh don't mind Tsunade. She's just extremely worried. That's all." A deep voice said. I looked at the door to see Jiraiya entering the room. "I called and he said he would come to school in person to apologize to Sakura here."

"Who?" I asked.

"The principal of Sound Academy is who I'm talking about. Those two guys from earlier attends that school so we had to inform the principal of course."

"I see…"

"I sent Kakashi to have your sons come over here to take you back home." Shizune said.

"He didn't tell them, did he?" I asked embarrassed.

"No. I made him promise. Anyways, I'd like to give you a little rest before assigning you your next mother goal." Shizune smiled. "I'm glad nothing seriously bad happened to you. We were able to get most of the drug out of your system. You will still feel numb in most places and difficulty moving but you will feel better by the end of tonight."

"Thank you…" I nodded. "And Tsunade-sama, I'm sorry about my attitude earlier." I said looking at my principal.

She snorted while waving her hand in the air. "It's whatever. Just be careful from now on and don't go off by yourself." She soon walked up to me as she pulled me in a hug. "I can't afford to lose you too." She whispered before linking arms with Jiraiya. "Now, let's go get drunk!"

Watching the weird duo leave, I heard footsteps speeding in the hallways.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto and Deidara said as they came in rushing. My sons followed after.

"Hi." I waved.

"Where's the bastards that attacked you?" Naruto growled as he cracked his knuckles.

I saw Konan, Kisame, and Hidan come in the room as well. I looked at them for the answer to Naruto's question.

"They've been dealt with and that's all that fuckin matters." Hidan grinned. I raised an eyebrow. Was that blood on his cheeks?

"Thank you again for saving me." I smiled.

"Heh, anything for Sasori's sister." Kisame gave me a toothy grin. "Speaking of Sasori, he should be here soon with the police. They want to hear what happened."

On cue, my brother and two police officers came into the room.

"Can I have everyone leave the room except for you four?" One of the officers said pointing at my saviors. "We'd like to get your side of the story after her."

"Yes, of course." Konan said.

After all the questioning, the police bid us good night as Tsunade gave me the 'ok' to go home. Since I still couldn't walk, I was put into a wheel chair. Bidding goodbye to Konan and the others, I went to look for my sons only to see them talking to Sasori who looked really angry. "I don't think leaving Sakura with you guys is a wise choice anymore. I'm going to have her live with Deidara and me." I overheard Sasori say as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"You can't do that!" Sasuke growled, taking a step forward as he glared at my brother.

"Watch me." Sasori glared back. "My sister was attacked because none of you guys went with her. How could you let her walk by herself at night?"

"Sakura-san is a tough girl." Shino said frowning. "She was a gang leader."

"She's also a girl. Gang leader or not, one of you guys should have walked with her. Especially with the Yakuza after her! If it wasn't for Konan and the others, she could have been gravely injured or worse, raped!" Sasori's voice was rising. My eyes widened as I felt tears forming. "Sakura isn't invincible. She can fight, I'll give her that. However, she has weaknesses and those guys almost took advantage of that."

"They didn't try to rape her, did they?" Sai slowly asked.

"No." Sasori frowned. "Deidara said they just drugged her to bring her back to the Yakuza leader. They could have though which could have been prevented if someone went with her. That's why I'll be bringing her back. I'm going to talk to Hatake about this mother goal thing and cancel it. I'll use the Akatsuki funds to pay off her debt and she won't have to bother with people who don't care about her well-being."

"Why I ought to-"Naruto said as he began to roll up his sleeves.

"Stop!" I shouted, stopping the fight. "I was my fault for going by myself. I thought I could handle it."

"Sakura…" Sasori began to say.

"And when did I agree to go live with you?" I questioned.

"I was only looking out for you." He frowned.

"I know…" I said as I sighed. "But I can make my own decisions you know. I have more street smart than any of you guys do. If they haven't drugged me, it would have been those two in the hospital."

"You're my little sister." Sasori frowned as he lowered down on his right knee and cupped my face. "I can't help but worry."

"I promise to be more careful!" I smiled as Sasori sighed and turned to my sons.

"I'll give you guys one more chance. If something like this happens again, I will take her away from you guys and you will deal with the Akatsuki." I rolled my eyes at his overprotective speech.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"You failed to grab her?" Kabuto frowned as he glared at his men. The other leader was silently angry in the corner of the room watching Kabuto.

"W-We had her." Dosu shivered with fear. "Then a few people came and stopped us."

"Like who?" Kabuto asked.

"It was a few members of the Akatsuki. It ends up that Sakura's older brother is part of that crew." Kimimaro said as he cringed when Kabuto tightened the bandage around his broken wrist even more, almost cutting off the circulation in his hand.

"How unfortunate…" The new leader said as he got up. "Must I face the girl myself?"

"Well you are going to the school tomorrow aren't you?" Kabuto asked.

"Indeed I am." The new leader smirked before chuckling evilly.

Unknown to the Yakuza, little Yumiko gulped before slowly backing away. She had a decision to make. She just hoped that it was a good one.

Wah, so much happened. I had a reader asked for Sakura to get raped by Kabuto or Omoi. It didn't seem right, so this is the closest I could get without ruining the story. With Raiko in the story, how will things play out now? And what is Kabuto's little sister up to? Please wait until my next update.

Love Kumiko


	39. Just who is the Yakuza Leader?

****I'M SOOOOOO SORRY! I haven't been able to update this story in a while. I haven't given up on this story. In all honestly, I had the biggest writer's block ever. It was super hard to write this chapter. I was also busy with moving, getting a new job, and just enjoying my summer. Well enough with the wait, let's get this story going.

**Sakura Kiss**

It was 4 o'clock in the morning when I heard a crash near my window. I had just gotten out of the hospital a couple hours ago and all I wanted to do was rest. But the noise definitely got my curiosity, so I decided to check it out. I heard a light knock coming from the front door. Opening the door, I looked around to see no one.

"Sakura-neechan…" A shy voice called out as I felt someone tug at my pjs. Looking down, I was surprised to see no other than Yumiko in front of me. I quickly brought her inside as l locked the door.

"Yumiko, what are you doing here this late at night? Does your brother know you're here?"

Yumiko shook her head as she began to play with her silver hair. "Kabuto-niisan wouldn't notice I left. I ran away!" I fought the urge to slap my forehead. I had an eight year old running away from home and a sister of a Yakuza leader nonetheless… just my luck.

"Why did you run away? How did you know where I live?"

"I have my sources." Yumiko said. "I came here to help Sakura-neechan. The new leader is up to something."

"You've met the new leader?" I said in shock. I can finally get information on this mofo. Yumiko nodded her head as I took her into my room so she could take a warm shower. Poor child was covered in snow. I soon left and came back with hot chocolate and snacks. I heard the door to the bathroom open as Yumiko came out wearing the smallest t-shirts I owned. It was like a night gown on her.

"Here, I brought you something to drink and snack on."

"Thank you!" She said as she climbed onto the king bed. We talked about random things before I brought up what I really wanted to know.

"So what happened?" I asked.

"Sakura-neechan is in danger!" Yumiko said with a sad expression as she laid back on the bed. "Nii-san got angry that he wasn't able to get you. I don't know why he wants to hurt Sakura-neechan. The new leader is going to go to your school tomorrow."

"Can you describe to me what the new leader looks like?"

"All I could see is that he has long black hair. He's really tall. He has scary eyes too." Yumiko shivered.

I sweat dropped. That didn't really give me much. "Do you know why they're after me?"

"Um…" Yumiko looked up at the ceiling. "Something about inheritance…I think?"

"Inheritance?" I repeated. Yumiko didn't respond after that. Looking back at her, she had fallen asleep. Something I should be doing right now. It was already five in the morning. I didn't start school until 7:30. What was I going to do with Yumiko?

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

It was time to get ready for school as I was still awake. I decided to make an early breakfast for everyone and tell them about our situation.

"Saaaaaaaaaaakura-chan, why so early?" Naruto yawned as he rested his head on the table. I slapped him on the head as he clutched the back of his head. Everyone else was either sleeping in their seats or trying to wake up.

"Um, there's something I have to talk to you guys about…" I said.

"What's wrong?" Neji asked.

"Is it about what happened last night?" Shikamaru questioned

"Are you leaving us?" Shino frowned. "We are truly sorry Sakura…"

I quickly waved my hands in front of me. "Oh, it's not about that. Um, I just had an unexpected guest who will be staying with us for a while."

"Who?" Hikaru asked.

"Before I tell you guys, promise you won't freak out?" The guys nodded as I told them.

"KABUTO'S SISTER?" Everyone said in shock.

"You guys promised!" I pouted.

"Why is she here?" Sasuke asked.

"She came here to warn me about the new Yakuza leader. He's after me because of the inheritance."

"Minato's inheritance?" Shikamaru asked. "Kakashi-sensei never really told us what they were going to do with it."

"But why would the Yakuza leader want it?" Sasuke asked. "Something doesn't seem right."

"Maybe Minato had a connection to him." Sai added.

"Well we're keeping Yumiko." I said.

"She's not a pet Sakura." Sasuke scoffed. "Kabuto is going to notice that his sister is gone and he'll go on a rampage to find her."

"Kabuto-niisan doesn't care about anything but power." A small voice said. We all turned to see Yumiko rubbing her right eye. "He doesn't care about me."

"Yumiko…" I began to say.

"He's your brother right?" Naruto asked as he squatted down in front of her. Yumiko nodded. "Then, he cares about you. You see, the love a person has for his or her sibling is strong. It doesn't matter if you're blood related, half-siblings, siblings by marriage, or not siblings at all. Family has to stick together. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten."

"Did you really just quote Lilo and Stitch?" Shino questioned. I shook my head. This boy was hopeless.

"I think it's a good idea to have her stay here." Hikaru said with a smile. "With the new leader a threat, Yumiko would be safer here."

"I guess that's fine." Neji said. "I'm guessing she's gonna stay in your room Sakura?"

"Yeah. I'm just worried about what to do with Yumiko while we're at school." I pouted

"We can always tell Tsunade about our situation and have her come with us around school." Naruto offered his idea.

"Idiot. If word gets out to Kabuto that his sister is with the enemy, things will blow out of proportion and Sakura will be in more danger." Sai frowned.

"I can have my uncle watch over her while we're at school." Neji said. "They'll take very good care with her."

"Is that okay with you Yumiko?" I asked our young guest.

She nodded as I smiled. "Then everything is settled. Neji will take you to his Uncle's house right now."

"Okay. Let's go Neji-niisan." Yumiko cheered as she grabbed onto Neji's hand.

I let out a sigh as I heard the front door close. There were just too many things going on at the moment. I had to deal with my mother goals, my sons' issues, the Yakuza, Raiko, and now Yumiko.

"Are you alright Sakura-san?" Shino asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I nodded. We finished breakfast as we got ready for school.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"What's this I hear about you getting kidnapped and almost raped?" Ino whispered harshly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and tapped her left foot on the ground. Damn you Deidara.

"It's nothing. I'm okay." I sighed.

It was third period as Kakashi was late like usual.

"HARUNO!" A voice shouted from outside. Running to the window, I frowned as I saw no other than Karui, Omoi, and Samui causing a commotion.

"What are they doing here?" Ino frowned. Gaara soon turned to look at me.

"You aren't going down there are you?" Gaara frowned.

"I have to see what they're up to." I said as I went to head out of the classroom.

"Sakura, you can't be serious." Hinata said.

"I'm the SC bodyguard." I smirked. "I have to make sure nothing brings harm to the student council and the other students."

"I'll go with you at least." Gaara said

"Fine." I said as the two of us went to meet the others.

Gaara and I made it outside as I looked back up at the classroom. Everyone was crowding around the window to see what was going on.

"Sakura." Samui nodded.

"Samui…" I greeted the blonde back. "What are you doing trespassing on school property?"

"We heard you had an incident with the Yakuza last night." Karui said. "Have you become that weak to get kidnapped that e-?"

"Karui." Omoi warned. He soon turned his attention on to me. "What did I tell you about going around by yourself?"

"I could handle myself." I said stubbornly as I stared at the ground.

"Why don't you get it?" Omoi said as he grabbed my shoulders. "The Yakuza leader is after you. He will come after your friends and family to get to you. Is that what you want?"

"Sakura…" Samui spoke. "Word has it that the Yakuza leader will be in the area today. Supposedly Kabuto's sister went missing and they're having a search. Do you have any idea what he looks like?"

"I heard from a source he has long black hair and scary eyes. He's tall too." I described.

"Like that guy?" Omoi pointed with his lollipop. Turning around I saw a man that fit the description. Yellow eyes laid its view on me before smiling and heading over to us.

"Hello, guessing by your pink hair, you must be Haruno Sakura." He said as he stuck his hand out. "I heard so much about you."

Before I could say anything, Gaara stood in front of me.

"Who are you?" He glared.

"Oh my. How rude of me. The name is Orochimaru. I'm the Principal of Sound Academy. I came here to apologize to you about what happened with my students in person. I had no idea why they would do such a thing. Well if you excuse me, I must say hello to dear old Tsunade before we talk. See you soon Haruno-san." The five of us watched him walk away.

"Man that guy was creepy." Omoi shivered. "Did you see his eyes? They were like snakes!"

"You don't think he's the new Yakuza leader, do you?" I questioned.

"Well according to your source, he fits the description." Karui made a face.

"We can't make assumptions just yet. We have to stay cool." Samui said. "We need proof before we make our move."

"Did you not see the way he was looking at Sakura and talking to her?" Gaara asked.

"Samui is right." Omoi agreed. "What if we confront him and he's not the leader. We'll get in trouble. But if he is, he might do something to get rid of us before we can do anything. We have to make sure. Will you guys work with us to bring the Yakuza down? I need my right-hand man back."

"I told you I left that life for good." I said as I began to walk away. "I'll deal with this my own way."

"If I work with you guys, will you guys do everything you can to protect Sakura?" I heard Gaara ask.

"Gaara!" I said shocked.

"Heh, are you still in love with her?" Karui taunted. Omoi looked at Gaara surprised while he kept a straight face and answered.

"She's my best friend." Gaara corrected.

"What about your sister and Tenten?" Samui asked.

"If it's to protect Sakura, they'll be in."

"NO!" I frowned. "I won't have anyone putting their life in danger for me. I'll deal with the leader by myself." I turned on my heels and headed to where Orochimaru went.

I ended up heading to Tsunade's office as I knocked on the door.

"Come in!" I could hear Tsunade say as I opened the door. "Oh Sakura, what a surprise? We were just talking about you." I could see Tsunade at her desk as Jiraiya and Orochimaru were sitting on the chairs in front of her.

"Orochimaru, this is-"Tsunade began to say but Orochimaru had cut her off.

"We've met." Orochimaru said with a calm expression. Tsunade didn't look surprised.

"I see. Well, now that you're here, we'd like to discuss about your attack last night." Tsunade said as she signaled Jiraiya to pull up another chair. I sat between Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

"I'm truly sorry about what happened." Orochimaru said. "I know I have a couple gang members in my school, but they normally keep to themselves unless ordered by their leader Kabuto who graduated three years ago from my school. Its funny how after they got a second leader, they've become more reckless."

"How do you guys know so much about the Yakuza? Why are they after me?" I frowned.

"We knew about them because of Minato and the others." Jiraiya answered. "They've been on guard with the Yakuza for years. Before Minato died, he asked us to take care of you and the others. Ever since those tragic deaths, Minato's been doing everything in his power to keep you and your sons safe. Now it's up to us." Soon Jiraiya's phone rang as he got up and went outside to answer it. Shizune came in after.

"Tsunade-sama, the Ogata family is here to see you." Shizune reported. Tsunade sighed as she got up.

"I'll be right back." Tsunade said as she followed Shizune out.

All that was left were just Orochimaru and me in the room. I couldn't help but feel awkward with the possible Yakuza leader. I slowly looked to the side to see him looking at me. A small smile appeared on his lips.

"Um, would you happen to know why they are after me?"

"All will be explained when the time is right. Just keep being yourself." He said as Jiraiya came back into the room.

"Eh? Just you two?" Jiraiya asked.

"I-I should be heading back to class now." I said as I got up. Orochimaru got up as well.

"I'll walk you to class." Orochimaru offered as Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Let me write you a pass." Jiraiya said but Orochimaru raised a hand to stop him.

"No need." Orochimaru said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Let's go now…" He guided me out the door as we headed back to Kakashi's class. Before we left Tsunade's office, I quickly grabbed a pen just in case this guy decided to attack me. Tenten taught me how to use almost any object as a weapon. She was known as the Weapon Mistress. We walked in silence and the awkwardness grew.

"You didn't have to walk me to class." I said breaking the quietness.

"I wanted to get to know Hana's daughter." He answered." Your mother was Tsunade's and my favorite student's best friend. She was very helpful when I had her in my class."

"Who was your favorite student?" I asked.

"Mikoto Harada or should I say Mikoto Uchiha." He said. My eyes widened.

"Sasuke-kun's mom?" I repeated surprised. I felt like he wanted to say more but didn't when I spotted Sasuke in front of us.

"Sasuke-kun!" I greeted.

He nodded as he glanced over to Orochimaru.

"My, have you grown!" Orochimaru said as he patted Sasuke on the head.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke questioned.

"I came here to visit Sakura-chan here. There's been quite a talk about her and its hit my interest." Orochimaru smiled.

"Well, you better warn Kabuto' gang, if they touch her again, I will personally come to your school and wreck havoc." Sasuke frowned.

"We don't want that. I shall warn them. You and your sons should keep a better eye on your…ah mother." He grinned. "I shall take my leave now. I've already got to do what I came here for. See you soon Sakura-chan. Oh and Sasuke-kun, do be careful as well."

Sasuke and I quickly turned the corner. Man was that guy creepy. I still couldn't tell if he was the Yakuza leader or not. I made a mental note to keep my guard up around that one.

"What are you doing out of class?" I asked Sasuke.

"Sabaku came back to class without you and we got worried. Kakashi sent me to look for you. What were you doing with Orochimaru?"

"He was at the office when I went to visit Tsunade. He decided to walk me back to class. How do you know him?"

"He used to be a teacher here my freshman year. He soon decided to become a principal at Sound Academy. He and my family go way back. He's like my godfa-." Sasuke stopped talking as he paused in his walk. Looking to see what he was staring at, I saw a tall man with long black hair. He looked related to Sasuke.

"Uncle Madara!" Sasuke called out as the man stopped in his walk.

"Ah Sasuke! Haven't seen you in a while. How has my favorite little nephew been?"

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked. Judging by Sasuke's facial expression, he seemed quite happy to see this man.

"I was going to talk to Minato's lawyer about having you live with me. She's still not budging about it." Madara turned his eyes to me before smiling. "Why, hello there love. I don't think we've ever met. I'm Madara Uchiha, Sasuke's uncle."

I quickly bowed. "Hello I'm Sakura Haruno."

"Ah, the _wife_ of the late Minato Namikaze." Madara nodded. "He and I go way back to our high school years. It still hurts me how he died. He was a good friend of mine especially since he was close friends with my brother Fugaku and his wife Mikoto. Well I should be off. I'll take you out for lunch or something one of these days Sasuke." Madara ruffled Sasuke's hair before placing a hand on my shoulder. "Until we meet again love."

I watched as Madara turned the corner.

"So that's your uncle." I said.

"Yeah. I didn't understand why he didn't get custody of me after that incident. But he's been trying."

"He seems like a good man." I smiled.

"Ah."

The two of us finally made it back to class as everyone stared at the two. We ignored the eyes watching us and began paying attention to class.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

It was finally time art class as I chose to help Kurenai set up class early.

"Thanks for the help Sakura. I'm going to be giving the class your final art project instructions. It won't be due until the day before the last day of school. You will be giving out a presentation of why you painted the thing you did and what it means to you." Kurenai smiled. She soon pointed to the painting I saw Sai look at on the first day of school. "A few years ago, I allowed people to work on this project together. Sai and Raiko had created this piece. It was the talk of the town."

No wonder Sai was upset that day when he was looking at it. I soon caught Kurenai-sensei rubbing her stomach.

I raised an eyebrow. "Kurenai-sensei! Are you pr-? "Kurenai just laughed as she nodded. "Asuma proposed to be last night actually. I found out a week ago."

"Congratulations!" I greeted her. Soon people began to enter the classroom so I headed towards my seat. When I did, a letter appeared on my desk. I frowned. It wasn't there earlier. I slowly opened the letter and read its contents.

**Mother goal 11: **Find out each son's number one fear and help them get rid of it.

"Sakura-san?" I looked up and saw viridian eyes meet mine.

"Raiko…" I said cautiously. I wasn't allowed to talk to her because Sai didn't want me to. I wonder what she wants with me.

"Can you join me for dinner tonight?" She said with a model like smile.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but why?" I asked. We barely talked to each other and for her to ask me out of the blue, it was weird.

"I-I don't really have any friends here and I was scared about transferring back to this school. When I saw you at the bus stop, I was surprised by how pretty you were and told my driver to drop me off there. I then took the courage to talk to you. I was nervous at first but when you talked back I was happy. I thought I could make a friend. However when I found out that you knew Sai, I knew you wouldn't want to talk to me."

My eyes widened when I saw her eyes get glassy as her lips began to tremble. Oh dear, was she about to cry? Geez, I hope I didn't regret my decision.

"Alright, I'll join you for dinner." I said. Raiko soon pulled me into a hug.

"Thank you Sakura-san! You won't regret it!" Raiko said with a huge smile. I was secretly jealous that she could look pretty when she was crying and smiling. Was this one of the reasons why Sai was attracted to her before? I quickly shook my head to get rid of the thought. Ew, I sounded jealous.

Raiko headed back to her seat as Sai, Hinata, Kasumi, and Shino decided to arrive. I greeted the four before tuning out Kurenai when she began to explain the art project.

Dinner with Raiko…I wonder how that was going to turn out.

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Don't forget to review everyone!

-Kumiko


	40. Let's Welcome the New Student Council

****I know I haven't updated in a month. I just been so busy, but i would try to finish this chapter with every free time i had. As we last left off, Raiko had invited Sakura to dinner. Let's see how that plays off, shall we? Don't forget to read and review.

**Sakura Kiss**

I made my way to the school where Raiko said she'd pick me up. I had told the boys that I would meet up with a friend tonight for dinner and that I wouldn't be home. They said it was fine and would probably order take out or something.

A limo pulled up in front of me as the driver came out of the car. A man in his late thirties walked up to me and bowed.

"Are you Sakura Haruno?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah…" I said cautiously.

"May I see a form of ID?"

I showed him my school ID as he nodded. "Hello Miss Sakura. I'm Kenji, Raiko-sama's driver. I am here to take you to her home." He led me to the car and opened the door for me.

"Eh? Raiko couldn't come."

"I'm afraid not. She's getting her house ready for your arrival. Before I left, she looked very excited to have you come over." Kenji said as he closed the door. I sat awkwardly in the back as he began to drive off. Raiko was excited to have me come over? I didn't know how to feel about that. Maybe she did want me to be her friend, but with the situation with Sai, it was difficult.

After a good ten minute drive, we arrived at a huge mansion.

"We have arrived Miss Sakura." Kenji announced as he pulled up to the front and opened the door.

"Thank you!" I said with a bow as he laughed. I walked to the front door as a butler opened.

"Ah, Miss Sakura! Welcome!" He said as he bowed. I soon noticed behind him a line of maids on both sides.

"Welcome!" They said in unison as they too bowed. I blushed at the attention.

"I shall make sure dinner will be ready on time." The butler said as he left.

"We shall lead you to Raiko-sama's room." The two closest maids said to me as they led me away.

They took me to a room on the east wing. Beautiful paintings decorated the hallways. Looking closely, I could see that it was created by Raiko herself. The taller maid knocked on the door.

"Raiko-sama, Miss Sakura is here."

A muffled 'Come in' was heard as the other maid opened the door.

I was amazed by how beautiful her room was. It looked like a room of a princess or something.

"Sakura! You made it!" Raiko cheered as she pulled me into her room. "Thanks Yuri. Thanks Yaya."

"It's our pleasure…" The two bowed before leaving us.

"I'm going to freshen up before we go downstairs. I'll be right back!" Raiko said as she skipped to the bathroom in her room.

I took the chance to look around the room. The room had a lavender mauve color. Did she choose this color because her hair was also a purple grey? Moving to the other side of the room, I noticed there were many picture on her shelves and tables. There were a lot of pictures I saw with her and her parents when she was little. Then there was one with her and Ami. There were many other pictures.

When I finally got to the last one, my heart dropped. It was a picture of her and Sai. They were standing in front of the picture I saw in the art room at school. I guessed it was the one that they created together back in freshman year. The two looked so happy and in love with each other. It got hard to breathe as I looked away from the pictures.

"Sakura, are you ready?"Raiko's voice pulled me out of my thoughts as I looked up.

"Ah, yeah!" I said as I looked away from the picture. Apparently I'm not as smooth as I thought I was because she lifted the picture with Sai and her.

"Uh..Raiko-"I paused as I saw her eyes getting glassy as she began to wipe the tears that were falling. She was soon all smiles as she placed the photo down and took my hand in hers.

"Let's go get dinner." She said as she pulled me out of the room.

Leading us down to the dining room, I was greeted with a table full of different dishes. My mouth watered by the sight of it. A butler seated us as the maids placed my plates and utensils.

"Albert, will father and mother make it tonight?" Raiko asked happily. I guess that's why there was a lot of food.

"I'm sorry Raiko-sama, they phoned a couple minutes earlier saying they were stuck at their business meeting." A hurt expression was placed on Raiko's face but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. "They sent their apologies by sending you the new paints and dresses from Paris."

"I see. I'm used to it!" Raiko said with a forced smile. "Besides, I have Sakura-san here with me tonight."

OMG SAKURA! Don't feel bad for her! She hurt Sai. She was the reason Sai and Sasuke hate each other. But, I understood what it was like to not have your parents home when you expect them to be there. At least I had Sasori. Raiko didn't really have anyone but the maids and servants.

After dinner, Kenji came to pick me up and drop me back off home. Raiko came with me this time. On the way, I took the courage to ask her the question that's been bugging me this whole time.

"Hey Raiko, if you don't mind me asking, what happened between you and Sai?"

I watched as she flinched at the name. She sighed as she popped her elbow against the side of the car and rested the right side of her face on her fist.

"It's the first time someone wanted to hear my side of the story." Raiko said with a sad smile. "Everyone just went along with what Sasuke and Sai said without even caring about my side. You see back in seventh grade…"

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**Flashback**

"_Raiko! Raiko! Did you see the new student in art class?" Ami giggled. "He's as cute as Sasuke-kun."_

_Raiko couldn't help but roll her eyes. What was so special about that Uchiha anyways? He was nothing but a moody little brat. "What new student?"_

_Ami led her to a grassy area as she saw a boy with pale skin and hair as dark as ink. "He's supposedly the first adopted child of Minato Namikaze. He was going to a different school in elementary but his father decided to place here along with the others. I heard he's good at art just like you."_

"_Hmph! No one is better than me!" Raiko mumbled as she stalked over to the quiet boy. "Hey y-"Raiko stopped as she gasped at the artwork being creative. It was breathtaking. It was beautiful. It was almost up to par with her work. If only he changed his technique a bit._

_Sai looked up at the green eyed beauty before concentrating back on his work. Not one to be ignored, she sat down next to him and watched. _

"_You're doing it wrong." Raiko commented. Sai stopped drawing as he narrowed his eyes at the stranger._

"_I am?" He asked as he looked back at his artwork._

_Raiko nodded as she placed her hand over his and helped him correct his technique. "If you hold the pencil like this and draw in this angle, your artwork will be even better!"_

_Sai was silent for a bit before doing what she instructed. Surprisingly, his drawing did get a bit better._

"_Who are you?" Sai asked._

"_I'm Raiko Ishida, Leaf Middle School's art prodigy." She boasted._

"_How funny." Sai smirked. "They said I would be called that when I came to this school. May the best one win."_

"I had never met anyone so infuriating in my life." Raiko said with a small smile on her face. The next two years in middle school, we ended up challenging each other. However, the more time I spent with him, the more I ended up falling for him. It was what you would consider a love-hate relationship. Before graduation, Sai had confessed his love to me and we went out. When he came here for high school, we were known as the ideal couple. I had become good friends with his brothers. Then things changed as Sai got better and better at art. Especially after Kurenai's art project she had us do."

"_Raiko!" Ami said as she jumped on the back of her best friend. "You and Sai's artwork for Kurenai-sensei's project is the talk of the town. They want to send the work to the big art contest!"_

_Raiko couldn't help but smile. She ran to the art room to see no one was there. The room was dark and the only light was coming from the window. Looking out the window, she saw her class below. It seemed like class was being held outside. She spotted Sai outside as he looked up at the window and waved at her with a smile. Raiko waved back and was about to head out to meet him._

"_This seems like very good work." A deep voice said scaring the crap out of Raiko. Raiko turned around to see a shadowy figure in the room with her. Was he there the whole time? She could see him looking at the artwork Sai and she made._

"_Who are you?" Raiko frowned as she kept her distance._

"_Someone who is here to make a deal with you." The man said as he got closer and played with a strand of her grayish purple hair. Raiko's eyes widened as she realized just who this man was. He was someone you didn't want to piss off. That was what her mother told her one time when they were at her father's business party. "They're fixing the new windows on the floor above. My men are up there right now. It would be a shame if one of the glass planes were to fall on that boy you were waving to earlier."_

"_Leave Sai-kun alone." Raiko glared at the man who threatened her boyfriend's life._

"_I will if you steal all his ideas and ruin his artworks for me. Make sure he doesn't complete another artwork every again."_

"_Why?" Raiko asked with tears in her eyes. What a cruel man this guy was._

"_Because, he doesn't deserve to have a happy ending. None of them do." He said. "If you don't keep your end of the deal, I'll kill the boy myself."_

"I did the only thing I could think of and agreed. I would secretly take his ideas and mess up his work right underneath his nose. He began to think he was losing his talent. One day, when I was over at the Namikaze's house and Sai was in the kitchen with the others, I took that moment to steal Sai's latest idea for the art show. I don't know how, but Sasuke-kun ended up knowing what I was doing. He had me confess. I was so scared I didn't know what to do."

"_You have to help me!" Raiko cried as Sasuke loosen the tight grip he had on her wrist. "He's going to hurt Sai-kun if I don't do anything."_

"_There's one thing you can do." Sasuke frowned. "It's going to be hard but if you truly love Sai, you're going to have to do it."_

"_Anything. Anything to save him!"_

"That night, Sasuke designed the stage. He had me go into his room and make ourselves look like we were doing something. Eventually Sai would wonder why I hadn't come back and would look for me. Our idea was that I had been having an affair with Sasuke because he had caught me red-handed in stealing Sai's work and this was a way for him to keep shut. I was made to look like the bad guy so Sai would be safe. I never saw a face a heart-broken as his."

"_Raiko?" Sai's voice was heard in the hallway._

_Raiko was shaking. _

"_Calm down and just do like we rehearsed." Sasuke said. She nodded as she felt Sasuke's hand go up to her tummy. Sasuke had his head buried in her neck as she placed her shaking hands on his back. She could hear the door to Sasuke's room open. This was it._

"_Sasuke, have you see-"Raiko immediately pushed Sasuke off her._

"_Sai!" Raiko said shocked as she jumped off the bed. Sai looked like his world had ended. He soon looked at her bag on the floor and could see his sketchbooks inside. _

"_Sai were you able to find he-"Shikamaru and the others had come to the room and witnessed the scene. It was too much as she ran away from the room and Sai._

"_I'm sorry…" Raiko whispered as she ran off into the night._

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**End of flashback**

"The next day, I was transferred to Sound Academy and the rest is history." Raiko finished her story as she was in tears.

I just stared at her. So Sasuke did all that to help Raiko and Sai. Raiko did all that because she loved Sai. And Sai had loved her as well. She couldn't even compare.

"Who was the man behind all this?" I found the courage to ask.

"I can't tell you. He still has ways threatening me. He still is. He found me in Sound so I came back here with Hikaru when the chance was offered. "Sakura, you're my only true friend. I know you're very close to Sai-kun and the others. That's why you must do me a favor…"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

I entered the house to see the boys in the living room watching Young Justice.

"I'm home…" I said softly as Naruto's attention was on me.

"Sakura-chan! Where did you go?" Naruto asked.

"I just had dinner with a friend. Did you pick up Yumiko?" I said looking at Neji.

He nodded as he looked down. I spotted Yumiko resting against Shikamaru who was also asleep. It was quite cute to see.. "She's sleeping. She wanted to stay up and wait for you but she tired herself out." I looked at the clock. It was already 10 at night.

"Are you alright?" Shino asked. I couldn't help but glance over to Sasuke and Sai.

"Yeah…" I lied. "I'm going to bed as well. Night." I said not waiting for any response.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto's voice trailed off.

When I finally reached my room, I shut the door and rested my head against it. I closed my eyes as I curled my fingers into a fist. I soon jumped on my bed and hugged my pillow. Raiko's favor…of all the things to ask, why did she have to ask for something I had no control of?

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"_Sakura, you're my only true friend. I know you're very close to Sai-kun and the others. That's why you must do me a favor…"_

"_What is it?"_

"_You mustn't fall in love with Sai-kun and if you did, you mustn't tell him."_

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"This isn't fair!" I whined as I buried my face deeper into my pillow. "This isn't fair at all."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

I woke up the next morning to Yumiko on my bed. One of the guys must have placed her in my room. I brushed away some of the silver strands from her face.

"Momma…" Yumiko murmured in her sleep as she cuddled more close to me. Memory of my young self doing the same to my mom came. It seemed like it was another lifetime ago.

"You're lucky…" I whispered to Yumiko. "You're lucky you still have your mom and dad."

"You're lucky too." A voice said. I looked up towards the door to see Hikaru leaning against the door frame.

"Good morning." I said with a smile.

"Morning. You seemed really tired so the boys made breakfast today." Hikaru said as he closed the door behind him and sat down next to me on the bed. I watched as he rubbed Yumiko's cheek.

"Is there something on your mind?" I asked as Hikaru looked up at me.

"No, not at all. Why?" When he moved, I got a glimpse of that black knight chess piece necklace as well as that long scar on his chest. Before realizing it, I was tracing my finger against the tough skin.

"So you noticed it." Hikaru said. I blushed realizing how close I was in his personal space.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My parents were taken hostage and I was tortured to work for this guy return for their safety." Hikaru said. My eyes widened at the seriousness in his voice and expression. An awkward silence came between us before he started to smile and laugh. "I'm just pulling your leg!"

"You're such a bastard!" I said as I pushed him off the bed. "Don't joke about stuff like that."

"I saved a girl from being attacked by a thug a few months ago." Hikaru answered.

"How heroic." I said surprised. "How are your parents by the way?"

"They're doing well. My mother misses you a lot. She wouldn't stop talking about you the whole time. She has this idea that you're going to be her future daughter-in-law." Hikaru chuckled. "What spell have you placed upon my innocent mother?"

"Oh shut up will you." I said. "I should get ready for school. I'll be out in a bit."

"Alright." Hikaru said as he left the room.

I quickly got ready as I quietly left the room. As I turned the corner, a yelp was heard.

"Ack! Sakura-chan! You scared me!" Naruto said as he clutched onto the right side of his school uniform.

"You're afraid of something?"

"Well, duh. We're not all perfect. We all have something we're afraid of." Naruto grinned.

"What are you afraid of?" I asked.

"Ghosts. You just don't mess with that shit." Naruto shivered. I mentally placed that info away for future use.

"What about the others?"

"I'm not really sure." Naruto shrugged. "You're going to have to figure that out yourself."

I sighed. It seems like I'm going to have to ask the girls later today at school. Since the boys had to start practicing for their basketball team and Shino for his volleyball team, the girls and I were soon taking over the student council this semester.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

When I reached the student council room with the boys, the girls were already there.

"It's about time." Ino said.

"Please don't take advantage of this chance to do gossip talk over the intercom." Shikamaru sighed.

"Would I do something like that?" Ino asked innocently.

"Yes." Everyone said. Ino frowned as she wrapped her hands around Shikamaru's left arm.

"Alright. Sakura will be acting as president. Anything she says goes!" Sasuke said. "To help her, Karin will be acting as vice-president. You will have authority when Sakura is not available. You will handle issues related to public relations and fulfills duties when asked by Sakura. You are also responsible for directing committees. Hinata, you will be acting as treasurer. You will manage all financial aspects of the council, including the deposits and expenditures of the student council. If the council or school needs more funding, you are in charge of fundraising."

"Ino, you're the most organized person in this group so you'll be secretary. You're in charge of taking notes at the student council meetings and executive board meetings and will type minutes for the student council. You'll also be in charge of relaying information such as meeting dates, plans, making a contact list for all members, taking attendance at all meetings and holding the record on file for the whole year, organizing workers to sell dance tickets, writing thank you notes to chaperones, guiding the underclass secretaries throughout the year, and is in charge of public relations for the council." Shikamaru explained.

"Any questions?" Sasuke asked.

Ino raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Can I make the announcement now?" She asked excitedly.

Sasuke sighed as he waved his hand signaling her to go ahead. She squealed as she turned on the intercom.

"Good Morning everybody!" Ino said. "This is Ino Yamanaka. As you guys may have heard, our lovely student council will be taking a break in order to focus more on our basketball and volleyball team. So, in order to help the school, four girls will be taking over their positions." A cheer from girls could be heard throughout the school. "I will have them each come and introduce themselves. I, Ino Yamanaka will be acting as the Student Body Secretary!" She then back away and let Hinata come and speak.

"I-I Hinata Hyuuga will be acting as Student Body Secretary."

"I, Karin Takeshima, will be acting as your Vice President."

Everyone soon turned to me as I grabbed the mic. "And I, Sakura Haruno, will be your acting President. Let's make this semester full of fun memories!"

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**How was that? I hoped you guys enjoyed it. It was a bit crappy, but it's all I could come up with. Sorries! Please wait for my next update. **

**-Love Kumiko**


	41. A Date and Spiders

****SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR MONTHS! School and work has been taking up so much of my time, its ridiculous. But the semester is finally over, so EXPECT QUICKER UPDATES! anyways for those who read the manga, WHAT THE HECK! KISHIMOTO, THAT'S NOT HOW I'D LIKE TO START MY WINTER BREAK. Someone is soooooooooooooooo getting coal for christmas for breaking so many people's hearts with chapter 614. I seriously cried. ugh, my kokoro. This chapter is shorter than usual, but i couldn't think of anything else to add and i wanted to at least update something. Thank you all for waiting by the way. I love you all!

**Sakura Kiss**

I stared at the mic in front of me as Ino flipped on the switch.

"Good morning everyone!" I greeted. Today was the first time we did announcements and I was nervous as fuck. I slowly read out information that Tsunade wanted us to announce and what was expected this week. Ino wanted to add a gossip corner to the announcements but we had to wait for Tsunade's approval for next week.

"Remember the last week of January is the parent/teacher conference. That's a week from now. We will be discussing what you want to do after high school and what college you will be planning to go to. Letters will be sent to your homes next week as a reminder. This marks the end of announcements. Make it a good day or not. The choice is yours." I finished as Hinata turned off the intercom.

"Good job!" Karin patted me on the back.

"I can't wait to add my gossip corner." Ino smiled. "I can have people leave letters for me to go over and give advice about. It would make school just a bit more exciting."

"You would." I rolled my eyes as the four of us got out of the Student Council building and headed back to the main school building for class.

"Hey, would you three happen to know what the boys are afraid of?" I asked as we walked through campus.

"Is this your new mother goal?" Hinata asked. I nodded.

"I have to find out what they're scared of and help them get over it. All I know is that Naruto is afraid of ghosts"

"W-Well Neji-niisan is afraid of spiders." Hinata answered.

"Spiders?" Karin raised an eyebrow.

"You'd think he'd be afraid of ruining his hair or something." Ino laughed.

"It's true." Hinata said. "When we were little, he accidentally walked through a spider's web. Never had I seen a spider so big before. To make it worse, it was about to lay its eggs."

Everyone shivered at the thought.

"Well Shikamaru is afraid of needles." Ino mused. "He would always make a fit about going to the doctors for shots and made clever plans to hide."

"Shino-kun is afraid of falling." Hinata also added. "H-He once said he didn't like the feeling of it."

"If I remember correctly, Sai is afraid of clowns." Karin said as she tapped her chin with her right index finger. "Supposedly a clown fell on him once when he was little and it scarred him for life."

"What about Sasuke-kun?" I asked.

The girls were quiet. "You don't know?" I questioned.

"Sasuke-kun isn't afraid of anything." Karin piped up.

I let out a laugh. "Everyone is afraid of something. Even the strongest people can be afraid of something."

Karin looked to the ground as I knew she was thinking about the time we ended up trapped in the hidden room at the school.

"Well, I knew this wasn't going to be easy. The faster I figure out what Sasuke-kun's fear is the faster I can finish this mother goal." I sighed as I placed my right hand on my hip.

XxXxXxXxXxX

My first two classes went by fast as it was finally Kakashi's class. When I entered the room, not everyone was in class. I waved my hand in greeting to the people in there. I saw Sai look at me with a small smile on his face. I was about to smile back but stopped when I saw Raiko in front of the class looking out at the window before she turned to face me, locking gazes. She soon smiled at me with a tilt of her head as I went straight to my seat, ignoring Sai on the way there. Why did I have to sit next to him?

"Not bad with the announcements." Sasuke commented with a smirk as he came up to my desk.

"Thanks." I grinned. I could feel Sai staring at me and I was trying really hard to ignore him. Luckily Vince came up to me and began to talk to me about this manga he got into.

All of a sudden, the scream of fan girls had gotten the class' attention. Ino, who was next to the window, looked outside and she faced palm.

"What is he doing here?!" She muttered. Curious, I got up from my seat and checked. I paled as I saw who was causing the uproar.

"Deidara?" I questioned.

Ino's cousin came wearing dark grey pants and one of those black baseball t-shirts. Across it said the word 'Artist'. Why was I not surprised? But I was wondering what he was doing here. I watched him enter the school building as the girls in my class began to gush about the artist, much to the displeasure of Ino. Listening to some of the girls, when my brother and his friends attended this school, they were very popular. Oh Geez.

It was soon quiet when Deidara appeared in front of our class room with Kurenai-sensei.

"Thanks for showing me to the classroom, un!" Deidara smiled.

"Anything for one of my best art students! You and Sasori should visit more often!" Kurenai responded before walking away. Deidara soon turned his attention to the class as his blue eyes skimmed around the room. He soon found his target.

"Sakura!" Deidara said as he gestured me to come over. I raised an eyebrow as I walked up to the door. I was soon pulled into a hug. He lowered his hands as it rested on my waist. I glared at him as I pushed him away from me with a hand, but he didn't budge.

"What do you want Deidara?" I asked irritated.

"So cruel! Just like Sasori, un." He pouted. I rolled my eyes he pulled away and began to take something out of his pocket. It was a ticket to an amusement park.

"What's with this?" I questioned.

Deidara grinned as he leaned against the door frame. "It's a ticket to the amusement park, un."

"Well duh but why are you giving me one?" I glared.

I noticed his gaze was to something behind me. He then looked down at me and smirked. "I want you to go on a date with me on Saturday, un!"

I heard the girls squeal behind me.

A date?

With Deidara?

"Why me?" I narrowed my eyes at him. At this Deidara grinned even bigger if possible. as he got closer and brought his mouth close to my ear.

"Hey!" I heard one of the guys growl as the squeals from the girls got louder.

"Because you're cute, I like you, aaaaaaand-" He made his voice softer as he said the last part, "there's some matters we'd like to discuss with you."

I raised an eyebrow at the word 'we'. At this, I realized that Deidara was now just messing around with me and had something else in mind.

"What are you planning?" I frowned. Deidara chuckled before backing away from me.

"I just wanted to piss your boys off and it was Itachi's idea." He answered as he waved at the people he knew in class.

"Why didn't he come and invite me himself?" I was getting a bit annoyed.

"Well I wanted to see you and having Itachi come here to your class would have Sasuke pissed off and we wouldn't want that now would we? So what do you say?" Deidara was testing me. I sighed as I looked away in defeat.

"Fine…" I muttered. I was trapped. The class cheered.

"Awesome. I'll pick you up on Saturday then. Get ready before noon!" Deidara began to walk away but stopped and came back towards me.

"Did you forget something?" I asked.

"Yeah, this." Deidara kissed me on the cheek for the whole class to see as I turned bright red. "See you later!" He said chuckling to himself as he walked away for good.

I slowly looked back in the classroom. Ino was glowing and had a happy aura around her. Hinata, Ami, and Kasumi were pink in the face along with the rest of the girls in class. Kiba was in his desk, his mouth dropped just a little bit. The other guys were just frozen or making cat calls. However, there were three people I didn't want to look at. Gaara, Sasuke, and Sai had the scariest aura around them. Gaara with his over protectiveness was about to walk up and follow after the flirtatious artist but was stopped by Suigetsu and Karin who were laughing nervously at the awkwardness. Sasuke was twitching in anger and Sai had paused in his drawing, his pencil snapped in half.

"You said yes?!" Sasuke growled.

"To him?" Sai added.

"Yes, I did. Now shut up and get ready for class." I said trying to change the subject.

"The pervert isn't even here!" Sasuke pouted.

"Whatever!" I said as I headed back to my seat. Sasuke opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Kakashi finally arrived.

"Good morning everyone! Sorry I'm late, you see I-"

"LIAR!" The whole class shouted.

"Ah yes, well, let's get started." He smiled.

XxXxXxXxXxX

The day went by without any other incident. The boys were at practice as Hikaru and I walked home. As I entered the kitchen, I saw Neji and Yumiko in the kitchen preparing lunch.

"Sakura-neechan!" Yumiko greeted me as she jumped down from her seat and hugged my legs.

"Yumiko!" I greeted back as I crouched down next to her. "How was your day?"

"It was fun! Hiashi-san has me being homeschooled when I stay with him. Neji-niisan came and got ice cream with me on the way home." I gave her a smile as Neji looked away in embarrassment.

Since she was hiding low from her brother and the new leader, we decided to have her be homeschooled during her time with Hiashi. He was kind enough to hire someone to teach Yumiko what she was missing at school. I wonder if she misses her friends though. She hasn't mentioned anything about it.

"What did you guys want to eat for dinner?" I asked.

"I can do it." Hikaru offered. He soon looked at the youngest person in the room. "Did you want to help me?" Yumiko nodded as she ran to get her apron.

"Thanks Hikaru!" I smiled at him as I went upstairs to freshen up. Neji went to his room to work on homework and wanted me to get him when dinner was ready. When I came back down to the kitchen, Hikaru was making spaghetti and was having Yumiko see if the sauce was to her liking.

"How is it?" I heard Hikaru ask.

Yumiko had a huge grin as she clapped her hands together. "It's delicious Hikaru-niisan!"

I was about to walk away when I heard the two let out a small scream.

"What happened?" I asked when I ran back into the kitchen. Yumiko was clinging tightly around Hikaru's neck as Hikaru was backed against the wall.

"S-S-S-"He stuttered.

"Spit it out!" I frowned.

"SPIDER!" Yumiko cried. I looked at the counter to see a spider spinning down from its web. Sighing, I grabbed an empty container and trapped the troublesome spider.

"It's okay now." I said. Yumiko pulled away from Hikaru as she looked at me in awe.

"Sakura-neechan, you're like a super hero!" She said brightly.

"It was nothing…" I said blushing as I held the container. "It's just a spider."

"Sakura-chan! You saved me!" Hikaru said as he pulled me into a hug. That's when a slipper came and hit Hikaru on the head.

"Hands off Sakura." Neji said. "What's going on here? Why did I hear screa-?" He paused as he saw just what was in my hand. Never had I heard a man let out such a girly scream. That's when I remembered my mother goal and that Neji was afraid of spiders.

"Neji…" I said trying not to laugh. I got closer as I shook the container.

"Don't get near me!" He shouted as he backed away.

"It's just an itsy bitsy spider." I grinned. "It's not going to bite you."

"Is Neji-niisan afraid of spiders too?" Yumiko asked.

"O-Of course not!" Neji frowned as he tried to keep his pride. I brought the spider closer to him as he paled.

"The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout…" I began to sing as I opened the container. "Down came the rain and watched the spider out…" Yumiko began to sing along with me. I held the spider by one of its legs as it began to twitch. "Out came the sun and dried up all the rain…" I flung the spider at Neji who became unconscious and fell to the ground, by fear, I have no idea. "So the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again."

"Did Neji faint?" Hikaru asked as he poked Neji with his foot. The spider slowly crawled away from the unconscious man.

"Poops, I think I frightened him even more." I frowned as I let out an awkward laugh.

Hikaru helped me move Neji to the couch in the living room as Yumiko fanned him. Neji slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he asked was where the spider had gone.

"We have no idea." Yumiko answered excitedly. "It went away like a ninja!"

"Why are you so afraid of spiders?" Hikaru asked. "I mean, I don't like spiders either but your reaction was much worse than Yumiko-chan's."

Neji blushed as he looked away. "When I was little, Hinata and I were playing in the backyard when I walked through a large spider web. There was this huge spider right in my face and it was about to lay its eggs. Since then, I hate spiders."

He looked at me as I tried to hold in my laughing but it was hard not to with that expression he had.

"But that's when you were little." I said. "You're much bigger now so the spider shouldn't seem so big to you now." I saw the spider crawling near Neji's leg as I picked it up. Grabbing his left hand, I placed the tiny spider down. Neji shivered from the contact. "See, it's not scary!"

Everyone watched as Neji soon relaxed as the spider crawled up his arm.

"One out of the six sons has overcome his fear." Shizune said appearing out of nowhere. We all jumped as I quickly grabbed the spider and took it outside. If Neji accidentally squashed the spider and Shino found out, all hell would break loose.

"Say what?" Neji said looking at me surprised when I came back into the room.

I scratched the back of my head as I let out a nervous laugh. "Well you see…it was my mother goal to find out what you are all afraid of and help you overcome it."

Neji glared at me as he got up and walked away.

"Neji! Come back!" I cried.

Damn.

As I was thinking of the next person on my top of my head, I saw Yumiko turning on the t.v. On the screen was advertising a circus that was coming to town for the weekend. I smiled just knowing who was next on my list.

.

.

.

.

.

Sorry for the short chapter, I'm just having a brain fart and I still can't handle the death of Neji right now. Ugh, but like I said up above, since my semester is over, expect quicker updates. Thanks for reading.

-Kumiko


	42. Death is Near

****Sorry for not updating as quickly as I said I would. Personal stuff came up that I had to take care of. I apologize for the late update. But it is here! Thank you for waiting now let's get on with the story.

**Sakura Kiss**

"So all I have to do is ask him to take me to the circus?" Yumiko asked as I was doing a waterfall braid on the younger girl's silver hair. The two of us were listening to Asian Kung-Fu Generation as I was softly singing along. The other boys still haven't come home from practice yet and Hikaru was already preparing dinner.

I smirked. "Yes. That's exactly what you have to do." I said. I could feel someone squat down next to me as he whispered in my ear.

"Are you really going to use this poor innocent girl to do your dirty work?" The person said in a whisper.

"Oh shut up Neji! If you say it like that, of course it's gonna sound bad!" I frowned as I pinched his cheek. "Yumiko wants to go to the circus and Sai needs to get over his fear of clowns. It's like killing two birds with one stone." I soon grinned as I nodded to myself.

"And how will you get Sai to say yes to take even a step near a circus, _mother_…"I didn't miss the emphasis on the word mother.

I quickly grabbed Yumiko into my arms and brought her close to Neji. Yumiko giggled as she patted Neji's cheeks. "Who can say no to this adorable little girl?" Yumiko gave her best impression on puppy eyes as I saw Neji twitched.

"You play dirty." Neji muttered. "And how will you help Sai get over his fears of clowns?"

The sound of the door opening in the front was heard as Naruto shouted that the boys were home.

"That's where you'll come in to help me!" I grinned as Neji's face paled realizing what exactly I had in plan for us.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Neji and I watched from the kitchen as Yumiko was humming her way towards her innocent victim. Everyone had just finished dinner and Neji and I offered to do dishes.

"Sai-niisan!" Yumiko called out. Sai was drawing in his sketch pad as he slowly looked up. "Can you take me to the circus tomorrow? It will be Friday."

"Circus?" Sai said as if thinking about it. "No."

"Puhleeeeeeeze!" Yumiko said as she turned on her puppy dog eyes.

"Ask someone else." Sai responded.

Yumiko frowned before slowly smirking. "Fine, I'll just ask Sakura-neechan and Hikaru-niisan to go with me. Hikaru-niisan wanted to take Sakura-neechan out on a date anyways. This would be a good chance for him to do so. Maybe they'll fall in love! Thanks anyways Sai-niisan!"

Yumiko was about to walk away before she felt someone grab onto the hem of her sweater. Yumiko turned around.

"I-I'll go with you." Sai said weakly. "Just don't ask Hikaru…"

Yumiko squealed as she gave Sai a hug. "Thank you so much Sai-niisan!"

Yumiko soon walked back to the kitchen as she walked up to Neji and me. I gave her a bag of cookies as a way of thanks as the smile on her face grew wider.

"You're good." Neji complimented. His face expressing amazement.

"Easy!" She answered as she began to go through the bag.

Maybe being the sister of a Yakuza leader had its benefits.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

The next day at school, it was lunch time as I decided to go up on the school's roof and enjoy the view of the snow falling. Nothing really different happened at school. Sai had continued to take notice of me not talking to him much. But honestly, there was too many things going in my head. Not only did I have to continue with my mother goals, I had to run the student council as the boys had their practice, help Raiko and Sai, and deal with the new Yakuza leader and how I was connected to him.

"Sakura-san!" A sweet voice called out to me. Looking back, I saw Raiko standing by the door.

"Raiko." I said. "What are you doing out here?"

"I should ask you the same thing. It's cold here!" She said. On cue, I felt a shiver as I nodded. We decided to spend lunchtime on the steps inside.

"So are you excited?" Raiko asked as she played with her mahogany hair. Looking at her, I can see what Neji meant when he said we looked like each other. We had the same face structure and eye color. The only difference would be our hair.

"Excited for what?"

"Your date with Yamanaka-san tomorrow." She reminded me as my eyes widened. A picture of Deidara holding out an admission ticket to the amusement park entered my mind as I had this leaning feeling. "Did you forget?"

"I didn't forget." I frowned. "I just had a lot of things going through my mind."

We began to get ready to head to class. Raiko stopped to go to the bathroom and wanted me to wait for her since our classes were in the same direction. A couple seconds later, two girls came out of the bathroom.

"Ugh, can you believe Raiko-san came back to this school?" One of the girls muttered. I narrowed my eyes as I listened in.

"Who does she think she is trying to befriend Sakura-sama? She's a total bitch after what she did to Karin and Ami, and not to mention Sai-sama." The shorter girl responded.

"Sakura-sama is too nice to not be friends with her, but she better be careful what she says around that whore."

"HEY!" I said getting fed up. However, the girls didn't hear me and turned the corner. I turned around and already saw Raiko standing behind me. Did she hear that?

As if reading my mind, she gave me a forced smile. It looked like she was going to cry. "It's okay if people think of me like that. They don't know the real story unlike you do. You're my only friend right now."

I took her hand in mind. "Raiko. You have to tell Sai and everyone else the truth!"

"I can't." She whispered. "Or else that man would get mad and come after the brothers."

"That man?" I repeated.

"The man who encountered me in the art room." She said as she took her hand back. Suddenly she realized that she said too much and stepped away from me. "I love Sai and I won't bring harm to him." She soon walked away leaving me to stare at her.

"I do too…" I mumbled, feeling weird. Passing by the theater, I remembered when both Sai and Sasuke confessed their feelings for her during the Alice in Wonderland play a couple months back.

Sasuke. He had feelings for me too. I'll admit that I was attracted to Sasuke but it was nothing compared to my feelings for Sai. An image of Omoi entered my mind as I remember the heartbreak that came when thinking about him. Was I ready to give Sai a chance with the risk of him breaking my heart like Omoi did?

I entered my next class as I stopped with my train of thoughts. Love sucked.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

It was in the evening when Neji and I entered the big circus tent as Neji pulled some strings to have us dress up as clowns. Neji was wearing a long purple wig. His face was decorated with the traditional clown look. He looked ridiculous that I had to laugh as he glared at me. I was rocking a puffy platinum blond wig and a puffy dress.

"So how are we going to go about with this?" He asked.

"We'll choose Sai and Yumiko to be our helpers and we'll show Sai that clowns aren't so scary."

He shook his head as the show started. The acrobats began to perform as the two of us waved at the audience. We were given the signal to then find our special guests in the crowd. I saw Yumiko waved at me as I headed towards them. Neji took hold of Yumiko as I began to face Sai. He seemed paler than usual as he wouldn't look at me in the eyes. When I held onto his hand, I could feel him trembling. Aw, this guy really was afraid of clowns.

Our job tonight was to have the other clowns deal with Yumiko and Sai. Everything was going fine. Yumiko was having a blast as Sai seemed to slowly get used to the clowns. A scream from above had us look up. A female clown that was performing with an acrobat had slipped off the edge and was hanging onto the edge of the platform for dear life. Acting quickly, I climbed up the tall ladder to get to her. As I got onto the platform I realized how wobbly it was. I also realized just how high we were. I could feel my fear creeping up. Shaking my head, I sprung into action.

"Grab onto my hand!" I screamed as the clown tried to do so. I could see the audience screaming and gasping in fear. As she took my hand, I ended up falling forward as I quickly grabbed the edge of the platform with her dangling from the other hand. I held on for dear life as I kept telling myself not to look down. There were certain heights I was afraid of and this was one of them.

An acrobat came to the rescue and was swinging telling me the next time he swung back to let the clown go. I nodded and did just that as he caught her. I finally looked down to see clowns running around to find something to help me. At the moment, the platform decided to give up as it broke causing me to fall. The acrobat swung back to grab me as I stretched my hand out. Unfortunately, as he did, my hand slipped from his grip as I fell to my death. However, I didn't feel the ground but hands. We tumbled in the ground as I felt a hand behind my head to protect it. I ended up on my back and the person on top of me.

I looked up to see Sai staring at me in concern as Neji and Yumiko were running towards me along with the others.

"Sai…" I whispered.

"What the hell were you thinking Sakura?!" Sai said shaking. His voice raised with anger and fear.

"H-How did you know it was me?" I asked.

"I heard Yumiko scream your name when you fell." He said as he helped me sat up. He rested his forehead against mine as he tried to catch his breath. "Don't do anything like that again. I thought I was going to lose you."

"I-I'm sorry." That was as all I could say as he pulled me into a hug. I could feel my heart speed up.

"I'm just glad you're paying attention to me again." Sai confessed as Yumiko crashed into me.

"Sakura-neechan!" She cried as I rubbed her back. "I-I was so scared."

"Idiot!" Neji mumbled as he fell to his knees and pulled me into a hug as well. "That was very dangerous!"

I apologized again as the female clown I saved came up to me and kept thanking me constantly. The audience soon stood up and clapped. Blushing at the sudden attention, I turned to Sai who was talking to one of the clowns. I smiled. So I guess Sai wasn't afraid of clowns anymore. I soon saw a sudden flash to my right to see a news reporter taking pictures.

"Let's go home." Neji smiled as he helped me up. Yumiko climbed on his back as he gave the younger girl a piggy back ride. Sai soon walked into step with me as he entwined his fingers with mine. It left this tingling sensation. I honestly didn't mind as I allowed him to do so. Just this once, let me be selfish.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

It was Saturday morning as I felt someone waking me up. Slowly opening my eyes, I was greeted with a lot of blonde hair who had a very loud voice.

"Forehead girl! It's time to get up. It's almost noon." Ino said pulling me out of bed.

"What for…" I muttered.

"Your date with my cousin, duh!" Ino said as she helped me to my feet. That statement woke me up completely. I had forgotten.

"What are you doing in my room? And it's not just with Deidara. It's with his whole group."

"I had a feeling you'd forget so Naruto let me in to help you get ready! You're so lucky to go out with a bunch of hot guys, excluding my cousin."

"Don't let Shikamaru hear you saying that…" I warned.

"Whatever! Let's get you ready!"

In a matter of twenty minutes, Ino had dressed me up in thick black tights with a white frilly skirt over, a tan knitted sweater that slid off the shoulder, and a black cami under. Of course, with Ino, the outfit wouldn't be finish without a matching black beanie and boots. She then had left my hair with soft curls and light make-up on me.

"There!" Ino exclaimed. "You're done."

"Wow, twenty minutes? That must be a new record for you Ino-pig."

"Can it Forehead girl. Anyways, Deidara should be on the way to pick you up any minute now." Right as she said that, we heard the doorbell ring. "Ah, right on time."

We went downstairs to see Sasuke opening the door.

"Wow Sakura-chan!" Naruto said excited. "You look so pretty! Where are you going?"

"On a date with me, un!" The person at the door said. The boys looked to see Deidara grinning at me. He was wearing dark denim jeans with brown boots. He had a matching brown jacket with a white v-neck shirt. He had a black scarf as well. His long blond hair was up into a high ponytail for once.

"Deidara!" I greeted as Sasuke closed the door on him.

"SASUKE!" I scolded.

"I don't want you to go on a date with him." I sweat-dropped. Why did I feel like I was having déjà vu?

"Oh live it up Sasu-cakes!" Ino said as she wrapped her arms around my neck from behind. Sasuke glared at the sudden nickname. "Sakura is looking cute as fuck. She should show it off to the world."

"When did your cousin ask my Sakura-chan on a date?" Naruto grumbled. "I don't approve."

"Since when was I yours?" I shot a glare at the loud blonde boy. "Now Sasuke, open the door."

"Hn." Sasuke said looking to the side, not budging.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I will throw all the tomatoes out."

Deidara entered the house as Sasuke reluctantly opened the door.

"Sakura-neechan! You and this guy match!" Yumiko observed happily.

I glared at Ino who seemed to be happy with her work. "I wonder why?"

"See, we're a match made in heaven." Deidara said putting an arm around my shoulders.

"Ahem." Sai made a sound as Deidara put his arm down.

"Bring her back by six." Neji said. "Or else I will make a report of attempt kidnapping to the police."

"Neji!" I growled. This was getting ridiculous.

"Fuck that, bring her back by four." Sasuke added.

"I'll be coming home any time I want. Now shut up and let me go." I raised my voice as I grabbed Deidara's hand and walked out of the house.

We ended up walking to a silver Lamborghini Aventador. My eyes widened. "Is this car yours?" I said speechless.

"Yeah, what about it, un?" He asked like it was nothing. Damn rich people.

"Nothing…" I muttered as he opened the door for me as it slide up. I slowly slide inside the car. As we began driving, it began to snow lightly. Deidara was humming lightly to the music that was softly playing. I could make it out as Beauty and a Beat by Justin Bieber.

"Sorry about how the boys were acting earlier." I said trying to find something to talk about.

"Eh? It's no problem. When your brother found out I was taking you out on a date, he gave me hell. You're like a princess to those Namikaze brothers, un." He grinned. "You should feel special."

"So why are you taking me out on a date?" I questioned him.

"Because I like you, un." Deidara smirked as we finally hit the freeway.

I blushed at his straightforwardness but I knew there was something else. "You said that there was something your group needed to discuss with me about? Why did you have to call it a date?"

"I did?" Deidara asked. I narrowed my eyes. I felt like he was hiding something.

"Yeah…you did." I said slowly.

"Just enjoy today alright, un." He said with a smile. I couldn't help but drop the topic. I didn't want to ruin today for all of us.

Eventually we made it to the amusement park where I was tackled quite quickly by a familiar person.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Tobi screamed as he wrapped his arms around me and spun me around in the air.

"T-T-Tobi!" I said getting dizzy.

"Let her go you idiot." Sasori grumbled coming up to us. Konan and Pein soon made their appearance as Konan grabbed me out of Tobi's hold and into hers.

"I missed you…" Konan said quietly. I smiled and told her that I had missed her as well. Pein just ruffled my hair as I smiled at him.

"What's sup pinky!" Kisame greeted. I glared at him as he smirked at my reaction. Itachi silently followed up behind him. He nodded his head in greeting. He looked paler than the last time I saw him. I soon realized that a few people were missing.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"Hidan is on a date with this Temari girl." Konan began to explain. I raised an eyebrow at that. Temari never told me. "Kakuzu hates amusement parks and Zetsu was feeling a bit under the weather."

I nodded as Konan had a huge grin. "What?"

"You and Deidara match." She said out loud causing the group to look at us both. "You two look like a couple."

"I'm glad you think so Konan!" Deidara grinned as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders again. "Because Sakura and I are in love, un."

"…Deidara." A cold voice said. "Hands off my sister."

"Y-Yes…" Deidara said doing just that as everyone laughed.

The day went by really fast as it was already night time. It was good seeing everyone again. The group had taken turns riding the attractions with me. Tobi ended up winning me a stuff tiger from the games, which he was holding for me at the moment. Kisame went with me to the aquarium they had at the park. Deidara and I went on the fast roller coasters. Pein and Konan decided to treat me for lunch. The second to last person was my brother. We decided to go on the merry go around and catch up.

"How are things with school and your mother goals?" He asked as the ride began to move.

"Things are fine." I said. "Nothing I can't handle. Since the boys are taking leave off student council to practice for their basketball games, the girls and I decided to run it in their place."

"Just don't stress yourself too much. The boys aren't giving you a hard time right?"

I shook my head. "Boys are boys but they're very protective of me. T-They've become like a family to me."

At this, Sasori reached his hand over to hold mine. "Sakura, I'm sorry."

My eyes widened as I quickly waved my hands in front of me. "No! I didn't mean to make you feel bad. Don't worry…" I said as I quickly grabbed his hands. I noticed that his cheeks became flushed. "…you're still my number one!"

He went to say something but I didn't hear him due to this large horn noise signaling that the ride was over. But I noticed that he had this sad expression.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you. What did you say?" I asked as we got off the ride.

"I said I'm happy to hear that." He said with a forced smile. I knew that wasn't what he said, but I didn't push it.

Sasori and I stopped at a concession stand as he bought me a caramel apple. We eventually found the last person to go with me on a ride.

"Itachi!" I smiled.

"Good evening." Itachi greeted. "Seems you're having fun."

"Watch over my sister." Sasori soon said walking away. "I'm going to find the blonde idiot. We'll all meet up at the fountain near the entrance."

"See you later!" I said waving to my brother. He just raised his hand and continued to walk away. I soon turned my attention to Itachi. "So what ride did you want to go on?"

"Will you come with me on the Ferris Wheel?" He asked.

My eyes widened as I remembered my last experience on one with Sai. I was about to reject but I saw this painful look in his eye and I couldn't help but say yes.

We slowly walked towards the large Ferris wheel that was lit up for the night. It began to snow lightly again. We waited in line as we talked about random things. Finally we made it to the front of the line as I entered the cart first. I watched as Itachi was talking to the conductor and handed him what it seemed to be cash as he nodded. Itachi finally made it inside as I gave him a look.

"What?" He asked.

"What was that about?" I frowned.

"Don't worry about it. Just enjoy today." He said as he looked outside as we began to move up. To tell you the truth, it was a bit awkward since we didn't talk for a couple minutes. I was about to start a conversation when-

"How's my little brother doing?" Itachi suddenly asked me. He was still looking out the window.

"He's doing well." I smiled at him. "Your uncle came to visit recently actually."

At this Itachi flinched and put his full attention to me. "Did you say my uncle? As in Madara Uchiha?"

I nodded. Why did he sound upset?

"Sakura you need to promise me something. I trust you with this." He said as he placed his hands on my shoulders.

"I-Itachi…" We made it to the top as the ride suddenly stopped.

"Promise me; whatever you do you won't let my brother near him ever again." His grip on my shoulders tightened as I winced.

"Itachi you're hurting me." I said as he immediately let go and apologized softly.

"What's going on with you?" I asked. "And don't think I didn't notice how pale you've gotten since Hinata's birthday party. You look like you're an inch away from death and-"I paused as Itachi suddenly got up from his seat across from me and fell to his knees.

"ITACHI!" I said as I gripped onto him. I too fell to the ground as he rested his head on my shoulders. I took in his flustered face. He was having a fever. "Oh my god, Itachi. You're sick. We need to get you home or something. Let me call for help." I felt Itachi shake his head as he pulled me closer into an embrace. "Itachi, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

A few minutes of silence passed us by and I thought he had knocked out from his sickness. But suddenly I heard him cough violently. He brought a hand to his mouth to cover it. When he pulled his hand back, my eyes widened in horror as I watched his blood drip down his palm.

"Sakura…" He whispered. "I'm dying…"

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Yeah, it went there. Thank you all for sticking with the story. Please wait for my next update. I'm trying the best I can to update faster. Don't forget to review my silent readers!

-love Kumiko


	43. The Enemy Makes His Move

I AM ALIVE! You guys don't have any idea how sorry I am to not have update for such a long time. This semester was just extremely crazy with group projects, presentations, and papers. That's college for you I guess. I want to thank you for waiting patiently. I have not given up on this story because there is just so much left to reveal. Anyways, hope you all enjoy this chapter and please be patient with the next chapter.

**Sakura Kiss**

I continued to stare at Itachi in shock as his violent coughs had ceased. Itachi continued to rest his head on my shoulder as I tried to find my voice.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked as I rubbed his back. I was trembling when he didn't respond. I quickly grabbed my phone and called Sasori to tell him the situation. Before I knew it, the ride began to move as a few paramedics appeared at the bottom with a stretcher. My eyes were getting watery as I ran with them to the car.

"Sorry ma'am but you cannot come." One of them said as Sasori came and held me back.

As they were lifting him up, Itachi grabbed my wrist as he gave me a tired smile. "I'm sorry. Promise to protect Sasuke with your life."

"Sir, please refrain from talking." Another paramedic ordered as they hoisted him inside.

"Keep that man away from my little brother…" Itachi was able to say just as they shut the door. The van slowly began to drive away as I turned my gaze to my brother.

"Sasori. Explain." I said as I was wiping a few tears away.

"I'll take you home a-"

"NO! We have to follow them!" I cried.

"Fine. We'll go and I'll tell you on the way but let me call Deidara first."

After a couple minutes, Sasori and I headed to his car as we drove off. I continued to stare at him as I waited for him to begin explaining.

"Before I start, there are some things that I'm not allowed to discuss. It has gotten to the point where if I were to reveal them, things would happen to the people I care about, bad things would happen to you." Sasori frowned. I was silent as he took it as a cue to continue. "You heard about the story between Itachi and Sasuke, right? Rumor has it Itachi was the one who killed his parents. But in all honesty, he was framed and threatened. The person who really killed his parents threatened to kill Sasuke if Itachi didn't take the blame. Since then, Itachi's been always watching Sasuke from afar. The guy soon found out that Itachi told Pein and had injected him with this unknown poison. We've been trying to find a way to prove Itachi innocence all this time as well as an antidote."

"Wait!" I said suddenly remembering the incident recently when some guy came and was threatening Lee at his café. "Are you talking about the man that was threatening to take Lee's café a while back? The one who was after Itachi when he was younger!" At his widened eyes, I knew I hit a bulls-eye before he narrowed his eyes at me.

"How did you know about that?" He asked.

"I overheard you and Lee speaking when I went to get my jacket." I soon remembered what they said about Minato. "He did something to Minato-san because he was looking for something he hid. He was the one who caused Minato's death, am I right?" My heart was beating fast. Sasori was silent. "I'm right, aren't I?" I glared at him. "What are you hiding from me, Sasori? What did Minato hide from this guy? What are Sasuke, Naruto, and I the keys too?" We suddenly were caught at the light. We were five minutes away from the hospital and ten away from Lee's café which was a couple blocks down.

"I can't say anything." Sasori frowned.

"Take me to the café." I soon said.

"Huh?"

"Take me to Lee's café." I raised my voice.

"You're going to ask Lee. I'm not taking you there." Sasori held his ground

"Fine!" I said getting angry as I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the car door. "I'll get there by myself!"

"Sakura!" Sasori called out getting angry. I ignored him and the sound of cars honking at me as I ran to Lee's café. I opened the door as the bell of the door rang. I saw that Gaara, Temari, Tenten, and Kiba were working today.

"Welcome to the Youthful Caf-Sakura?" Tenten blinked, surprised to see me there.

"Where's Lee?" I asked, out of breath.

"He-IS THAT BLOOD ON YOU?!" Tenten shrieked as she ran up to me.

"Blood?!" Gaara soon appeared coming up as well. He grabbed me by the shoulders as he checked me.

"Who did you fight with?! Don't tell me you bumped into Karui!" Temari frowned.

"Sakura, are you…"Gaara began to say. I shook my head as a look of relief appeared on his face.

"Where's Lee?" I asked again. At that moment, Lee decided to appear from the back.

"Did I hear Sakura-san's lovely voi-ACK!" I cut Lee off as I grabbed him by collar of his shirt and outside to alley.

"Sakura-san, what's the meaning of this?" Lee asked surprised by my actions.

"What are you hiding from me?!" I growled. Lee's eyes widened before he held a serious expression on his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Lee frowned.

"What do you know about what happened all those years? What did Gai-sensei tell you? What are you and my brother hiding from me?" The look of realization dawned on his face as he gulped.

"This isn't something you should get involved with Sakura-san…" Lee said, looking at the ground.

"Don't give me that bullshit Lee." I said stomping my feet on the ground.

"Sakura-san, it's not in my place to tell you. I'm sorry." Lee sighed. "If you really want to know, you have to find things out on your own. No going to teachers, especially that scary snake Oro-"Lee froze as he realized he blurted out something.

"Orochimaru?" My eyes widened. Was Orochimaru responsible for all this?

"Sakura-san, wait!" I step back from Lee as I turned my heels and began to run away as Lee called out to me. Just as I was about to cut the corner, a man on a motorcycle stopped me.

"Hop on." He said as I did just that and we drove away. I tightened my grip around his waist as I rested my right cheek on his back.

"Thanks Gaara…" I said as I lost sight of the café. Eventually we stopped at his house as a man and woman with sandy blonde hair had just pulled into the driveway.

"Kurura-san!" I called out as the woman turned around and smiled. My sad mood disappeared the moment I saw the woman who treated me like another daughter.

"Oh my! Sakura!" Gaara's mother ran to pull me into a hug. "It's been so long."

"Nee-chan, don't run!" Her twin brother called out.

"Yashamaru, I'm fine." Kurura went to Gaara and placed a kiss on his forehead. I smiled as Gaara blushed at his mother's affections.

I remembered Gaara's family background. Kurura had almost died from giving birth to Gaara since he was premature. She had been stuck in the hospital trying to recover until last year. Gaara's father had blamed him for her condition since but when he and Gaara were finally able to fix their relationship, he died from a sudden illness back when Gaara was about to enter middle school.

That was why Gaara was the way he was before we met. The father left his will giving the kids the house. His mom's younger brother, Yashamaru, had been taking care of the three since. It was just last year when the mother miraculously was able to leave the hospital thanks to the treatments Tsunade had given her. Since then she would only go to the hospitals for checkups. Gaara's mother had surprisingly been a friend of my mother's back in middle school. So when Temari took me to her home one day to meet her mother, she had cried saying I reminded her of her dead friend.

"Hello Yashamaru-san." I greeted.

"Such a polite girl. I'm glad Gaara has a best friend like you. Continue to keep him in check!"

"Uncle!" Gaara frowned as Yashamaru smiled.

"Are you two hungry? And where are your siblings Gaara?" Yashamaru continued as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Temari is still at work and I don't know where the idiot is." Gaara answered as we were removing our shoes. "We'll be in my room!"

"Alrighty! We'll call you when dinner is ready!" Kurura smiled.

It was only when I entered his room that I remembered why I was feeling upset earlier. Gaara sat on the black rolling chair in front of his computer as I lay down on his bed. I only smiled when I saw a picture of the two of us back in the gang life. It seemed like a lifetime ago. I also noticed a new picture of him and Matsuri. I was happy for them. Gaara deserved a nice girl like her in his life.

"My Sakura-senses were tingling…" Gaara said. "Did you and Lee get into a fight?"

I gave him a painfully confused look before I dropped my face into my hands. It's been a while since I've spent time with Gaara. I've been so busy with everything. I eventually told him everything that's been going through my mind and what had happened earlier.

"All I want to know is why my brother and Lee are keeping it a secret from me? How am I involved with what's been going? What if this answers why Minato died all of a sudden? Why is Itachi dying all of a sudden? And how I'm connected to the new Yakuza leader?"

"What if the Yakuza leader was the one who killed off Minato using the same poison on Itachi?" Gaara theorized. "I told you I had a bad feeling about Minato helping you out of nowhere. No one is that nice in this world. He knew your mother and he was using you as a pawn in this game between him and the leader and he lost."

"Orochimaru…" I murmured. "Lee didn't want me to talk to Orochimaru."

"The principal of Sound Academy?" Gaara raised a non-existing eyebrow.

"Gaara, what if he's the leader?!" I asked. "We have to stop him!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Remember what Omoi and Samui said. We need proof before we go accusing him of anything." Gaara said trying to calm me down.

"But think about it Gaara. Orochimaru was the principal of Kabuto's school just before he graduated. Most of the students at his school there belong to Yakuza families. I think he has all the answers I'm looking for." I said nodding to myself.

"So what, you're just gonna go knocking on his door? Sakura, if he is the new leader, you'll be walking right into his trap. It's you he wants. What you need to do is keep yourself away from any danger. Leave everything else to me, Temari and Tenten. I'll see if I can pull some strings to find more information."

"What? No!" I said not liking the idea. "I'm not going to let you guys deal with the dangers in my place!"

"And I'm not going to let _her_ surface up again." I flinched as certain memories appeared in my head.

_Parking garage_

_Fire_

_Blood_

_Ino_

_Hinata_

_Death_

_Gunshots_

_Fighting_

_Shinigami_

_Pain_

I felt Gaara shaking me out of my thoughts. "You were thinking of that night." He said more as a fact than a question. I sat up from his bed as he took a seat next to me. I nodded as he sighed and gripped my hand for comfort. "I won't let that happen to you again. I promised. We all did."

"It was my fault though. Because of me, Ino and Hinata had to get involved. Ino was hurt because of m-"

"-Because of the enemy, not you. You did the best you could at the moment to save her. You're not a superhero Sakura. You're human and you're allowed to make mistakes. Ino's father doesn't understand. He's a bastard like that."

"I guess…" I mumbled as I rested my head on his right shoulder. "I couldn't help it. All that anger…all that blood…that wasn't me. That wasn't in my control."

"I know Sakura, I know. You're not her. You're you. That's why I forbid you from fighting." Gaara said ruffling my hair.

I opened my mouth to say something but the sweet voice of Gaara's mother calling us for dinner beat me.

"Let's go." Gaara said offering me a tiny smile as he led me downstairs.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

After dinner with Gaara's family, Kankuro offered to take me home.

"It was nice having you over squirt." Kankuro said as we stopped at a light. We were driving on his motorcycle. I just tightened my arms around his waist.

"Yeah, sorry I haven't been around much."

"Yeah yeah, you've been busy. I know you're busy with your mother goals."

"You guys aren't mad?" I asked surprised.

"You gotta do what you gotta do." Kankuro said with a shrug. "Just don't forget that you have people that care about you here. You don't have to do everything yourself. You're not alone."

"Thanks Kankuro." I said patting his shoulder.

We finally reached the house as I could see police officers at the front. I could see Naruto in tears as an officer was asking him questions. Sai was handing another officer a picture of me. Shikamaru and the others were on their phones most likely calling the group about me. Hikaru was trying to calm Yumiko down as she was crying against his leg. I felt vibrations coming from my phone. Oh great.

"What the hell?" Kankuro frowned.

"I'll handle it." I said as I told him he could leave.

I started walking towards Naruto. As I got closer, I could faintly hear the conversation the police officer and him were having.

"Sakura-chan is missing!" Naruto shouted. "How many times did I have to tell you? She has pink hair and green eyes."

"And how long has she been missing?" the officer asked.

"She left at a date around noon. She was supposed to be back at six. It's already eight in the evening!" Naruto cried.

"Sir please calm down. We can't file a missing person unless it's been over twenty-four hours."

"BUT SAKURA-CHAN IS M-"

"Right here, you idiot." I spoke up, getting irritated.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto cried out as he flung himself towards me. He was met with my fist as he fell to the ground.

"What the hell is this?" I said embarrassed. I could see the neighbors crowing around at the scene. Ugh, can the ground just create a hole and swallow me up?

"Sakura!" Hikaru shouted as Yumiko wiped her tears away and ran to me.

"Nee-chan!" Yumiko wrapped herself around my leg as I sighed. I could see the neighbors pointing fingers.

"What's all this about?" I asked as I watched Naruto get up.

"Sasori came here a couple hours ago saying you ran off. He was worried and thought you came here but you weren't. So he's still out there looking for you and we called the cops." Naruto cried.

I felt a bit guilty seeing how worried everyone was about everything. It was a bit selfish of me not to let them know what was going on or where I was. As I saw Sasuke head towards me, I was quickly reminded of Itachi who was in the hospital. I talked to the police officers and apologized for the confusion and my family's behavior.

"Sasuke…" I called out to him as I pulled him to the side and informed him of what happened earlier today.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Sir, you're not supposed to be here!" A nurse said as she was finishing her rounds of the night. Her last patient she checked on was Itachi Uchiha. Down the hallway she saw a tall man with long dark hair was heading towards her way. Behind him was a man with silver hair.

The nurse could feel bad vibes from these people. She slowly lowered her hands to her pockets as she felt around for her panic button. The man walked closer.

"Misako…what a pretty name." He commented.

"Sir, please leave. You're not supposed to be here." Misako repeated. She flinched as she felt the man place his hand on her cheek.

"You shouldn't be making such a ruckus. You're disturbing the patients." He smirked as he whipped out a cloth full of chloroform and forcefully placed it over the poor woman's nose as her struggles came out muffled. Passing her over to the silver man behind her, he walked right into the room she had just left. "Make sure I have no interruptions Kabuto."

"Yes sir." Kabuto nodded as he took care of the unconscious nurse.

Closing the door behind him, the man walked closer to the unconscious man on the bed.

"Funny to see you here like this Itachi…" He said as he placed a hand on Itachi's forehead. He was sweating. "The dying look fits you quite nicely boy." Following the plastic cord that led to the pack, the man quickly switched the bag with another that he had brought. "Let's help speed that process."

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Again sorry for the long months of not updating. College is just keeping me so busy. School is almost over which means more time to sit down and write. Never had I read a story with Gaara's mom alive and well. So I decided to give that a shot. And just who is this evil monster working with Kabuto? We shall find out in future chapters. Hope you all enjoyed this and please don't forget to review. Thanks!

-Love Kumiko


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